Items left after hours at Country Store ransacked, ruined
courtesy photo
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Editor,
Are you sure the donations you bring to the Country Store are being put to good use? The above picture, taken by one of the store workers shows what happens when donations are left at the back door overnight and especially on weekends. This picture was taken Sept. 29. This is not an isolated instance. It happens almost every time that merchandise is dropped off after hours.
The boxes and bags are gone through by vandals or thieves, the better articles taken, the rest strewn about and trampled on, and if the weather is bad, rained or snowed on. The result is that the merchandise you have meant for good is now ruined and must be picked up and thrown in the trash. The store gets no benefit from it, and ultimately, the charities which the store donates to, get no benefit. It also creates more work for those who give their time and energy to maintain the Country Store.
It is a picture of what happens most of the time when donations are left at the back door, after hours. This is the reason for the sign posted in large letters at the back of the store telling the public to not drop off donations after hours and on weekends
The Country Store is run by a collaboration of 10 area churches and does a great deal of good in and around our community, in donating to such entities as the Boys and Girls Club, Cheerful Heart, Helping Hands, Loaves and Fish Food Bank, Senior Center, YWAM Tribal Wave Program, and Lake County Hospice. Any proceeds remaining after paying bills and donating, are channeled back to each participating church to be used in their individual outreach programs. So, the loss to the store is a loss to the whole community.
An added note to the individuals who are going through the merchandise that is left off: if you are truly in need of things, visit the Country Store during open hours of 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and they can help you out, or contact Helpings Hands and they will provide you with a referral to the store. If you are taking goods to resell for your own profit, please be aware you are taking from a program which benefits the needy in your community.
Phyllis Dresen
Polson
