Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016
THE COMMERCE NEWS • THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 3A
Open in former Bi Lo building
Steve Matthews stands in the clothing section of the store. He says cus- of thrift stores.” The thrift store/family support center opened Tuesday in the
tomers will find good shirts and work pants at $4 apiece. He told the Kiwanis former Bi Lo building on Homer Road.
Club that one customer called St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift stores, “the Macys
New thrift store is part of Catholic mission
l
8,000 square feet
The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store has 8,000 feet is dedicated to the St. Vincent family support
square feet of retail space. Another 4,000 square center.
St. Vincent de Paul
opened its newest thrift
store Tuesday, in the 200
Homer Road location of the
former Bi Lo store in Com
merce. But Commerce’s
newest business is more
than a place to buy clothing,
furniture and household
items at a steep discount.
The 14,000-square-foot
store is an expansion of the
Georgia mission arm of the
Catholic Church and will
serve residents of Banks
and Jackson counties in
conjunction with its par
ent church, St. Catherine
Laboure Catholic Church in
Jefferson.
Steve Matthews, of St.
Catherine Laboure, spoke to
the Commerce Kiwanis Club
about the expanded mission
in a program arranged by
member Mark McCannon.
The Society of St. Vincent
de Paul Georgia has thrift
stores in 12 other locations
to support its missions.
According to Matthews,
the St. Catherine branch
reaches 350 families a
year in Banks and Jackson
counties, providing support
in terms of assistance with
utility bills, dental/medical
expenses, gasoline, prescrip
tion and other needs on a
first come, first-served basis.
“We go out into their
homes, two by two, and
discuss with them what
help they need, with a bill, a
payment on a car, groceries,
whatever,” Matthews said.
“In doing that, that money
is raised locally through
our church, through yard
sales and a couple of grants,
and that patch we put on
people’s lives is just enough
to make a difference. So,
to get to that next level we
need to have the income to
do it and one of the ways St.
Vincent de Paul has done
it is with thrift stores. So we
are opening a thrift store
family support center that is
much, much more than a
thrift store.”
The store comprises just
under 14,000 square feet.
Eight thousand square feet
are dedicated to the retail
sales, 2,000 square feet in
back will be used to process
donated items, and another
4,000 square feet will be
used for the family support
center.
Aside from one paid
employee, the whole opera
tion is staffed by volunteers.
Matthews said 93 percent of
the money raised there will
stay in Banks and Jackson
counties.
Eventually, the facility will
St. Vincent
Hotline
St. Vincent de Paul has
a 24-hour hotline for peo
ple needing assistance.
The number is 706-367-
5570.
include a walk-in freezer.
St. Vincent has an arrange
ment with Kroger to take its
dated meat and frozen food,
which it currently takes to
the Banks Jackson Food
Bank. Families in need will
be able to “shop” for the
food of their choice once
that system is in place,
which Matthews said could
take a year.
Store hours will be 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Monday through
Saturday.
Matthews noted that the
store relies on volunteers
and donations.
“We will be asking for vol
unteers and asking for your
donations,” he said.
He also acknowledged
that there are similar stores
in Commerce.
“I know there are a
couple of other thrift stores
in town,” he said. “I hope
there’s space for all of us.”
Items that the store can
not use are recycled. Cloth
ing not fit for resale either
goes to foreign countries or
is made into rags, depend
ing on its condition.
“We are trying to move
people from poverty to
where they can take care
of themselves,” Matthews
continued. “You can’t really
do that by paying a light bill.
We need to do that, so the
family support center will be
having financial planning,
health fairs, job fairs, banks
of computers, people who
will come to help apply for
benefits... and we’ll be able
to bring them in and spend
more time with them, just
sitting down and talking
to them about all the little
things they don’t think of.
We go out and see people
and the first thing you notice
is their outside lights are
on. Their air conditioner
has been set at 70 instead
of 75. They never turn it
down when they leave the
house — all these things that
we kind of think of as com
mon sense, they don’t think
about. It’s a generational
thing we need to break.”
Typically, Matthews said,
a family in need has one
working individual, with
the rest depending on that
person.
“It gets hot like it’s been,
and suddenly they have an
electric bill twice as much
and they’re in a pickle.”
There are plenty of peo
ple in the two-county area
who need help, Matthews
said.
“The poverty level in
these two counties is a lot
worse than people think,”
he said. “It is really rough
out there right now in July
and August.”
Matthews pointed out
that St. Vincent does not
give out money. It makes
direct payments to creditors
or landlords, sometimes
after negotiations. For food
assistance, it gives out
Kroger gift cards. It has an
arrangement with a local
motel for emergency short
term housing.
A variety of furniture
The St. Vincent de Paul thrift store carries clothing, household items — and
a selection of furniture. Proceeds help with the group’s mission in Banks and
Jackson counties.
Abater ••• Cont. from Page 1A
Water Authority can pump from the river to the reservoir
depends upon the level of water in the river.
At the most, the authority can withdraw 60.4 mgd from the
river. However, the stream flow in the river began falling June
17, effectively reducing the amount the authority can pump into
the lake to a low of 19.12 mgd by June 26, according to a report
from Jacobs Engineering, which manages the reservoir and
the water treatment plant.
Wayne Haynie, director of utilities for Oconee County and
chairman of the basin authority’s Engineering Committee,
said there has been no talk yet of implementing the authority’s
drought management plan. That document spells out how
the authority and its owners—Jackson, Barrow, Athens-Clarke
and Oconee counties — will cope when demand for water
outstrips supply and the reservoir level begins to fall.
As of June 26, some of its indicators pointed to drought for
the first time this year, but it takes two consecutive months of
such indications before the drought management plan kicks
in. That may or may not happen, but in the interim, local water
managers will sell all the water they can.
Alligator captured near Banks Crossing
An alligator was captured in
Banks County Tuesday after
noon, June 28.
“Banks County Emergency
Services, along with the mar
shal’s office, code enforce
ment and Georgia Department
of Natural Resources worked
side by side in the safe capture
of this “not so native” creature
this afternoon,” said Banks
County EMS on Tuesday.
The alligator was captured
near Banks Crossing and has
been removed for relocation.
“This was definitely a first for
us,” said EMS.
The alligator was not killed.
The DNR planned to relocate
the reptile.
Ready for relocation
Banks County EMS, code enforcement and DNR personnel load a small
alligator found near Industrial Boulevard for relocation, its jaws secured with
duct tape.