Partnering with local thrift store

To the Editor:

Thrift stores already give back to a community by providing a space to reuse and repurpose unneeded or unwanted items in a low cost way, enabling people to find needed items and special treasures without breaking the bank. In December, our own local thrift store

took it a step further by partnering with Kinship to give back even more to our community.

On Dec. 10, Twelve Baskets invited Kinship mentors and mentees to help out at the store by reorganizing, greeting customers, sorting donated items, and helping customers with their purchases for a day. In return, they made a donation of a portion of the day’s

proceeds back to our Kinship program and offered a voucher to each youth that helped out over the course of the day. With Christmas just around the corner, those vouchers enabled some of our mentees to purchase gifts for parents and family members, or simply pick up something fun for themselves. The gratitude of the employees and customers was such a gift to us as we worked. It seemed like every few minutes someone was coming by remarking about how nice things looked and how much fun everyone was having. I loved seeing the mentors and mentees each finding their niche and enjoying their time as they gave back to the community. We know as a mentoring organization the degree to which we rely on our community to do the work we do. We were so thankful for the opportunity to give back while continuing to support our program. Thank you to Twelve Baskets for the chance to serve, and for your generous contribution to our efforts at Kinship of Martin County.

Jen Kahler

Executive Director, Kinship of Martin County

Fairmont