Meals On Wheels press release
Meals on Wheels Ministry was among several Henderson County non-profits to receive a check from Athens Thrift Store on Thursday, Jan. 30. Representatives from both agencies gathered at the store for a check presentation ceremony marking a landmark fundraising effort for the Thrift Store, which was begun in 2010. Since then, the organization has given away over $80,000 to organizations who serve in Henderson County including the East Texas Crisis Center, East Texas Health Center, Henderson County Food Pantry, First Baptist Church Furniture and Clothing Ministry, Henderson County Young Life, Ruby’s Safe Haven, Family Peace Project, Lila Lane Ministries, Disciples Clinic, ETMC Auxiliary, and Meals on Wheels Ministry.
Real estate broker and Board President Drew Douglas says that he got the idea for the Athens Thrift Store from a friend living in Brenham, Texas, who had opened a similar operation there. He started working on opening the store in February 2010, and by August, the thrift store was open for business. The concept is simple; people donate items to be sold by the store, and all resulting proceeds are distributed to non-profit organizations.
Mr. Douglas hopes to continue to grow the store, so that they can return even more money back into the community. In order to achieve this, he says they need more volunteers.
“If it wasn’t for volunteer help, we couldn’t do this,” he says. Mr.
Douglas notes that there are several easy ways to get involved.
“The first thing they can do is to volunteer here to help sort clothes, clean up, do pick-ups and drop offs, stock shelves, that sort of thing. The other most important way they can help is to bring their garage sale type items here to be resold by us.”
Shopping at the Athens Thrift Store is another way to support the community. Located at 1419A Tyler Street in Athens, the store is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Items may be dropped off anytime during regular business hours. Athens Thrift Store Manager Matthew Akin can be reached at 903-675-3160 for any questions and to arrange drop off or pick up of donated items.