Yesterday we had an incident in the parking lot of our thrift store. It may seem a small event, but I wanted to let everyone know a policy of the Franklin Area Survival Center.
When someone brings items to our store for donation and they come onto our property, we ask that those donating do not offer items free to people and we ask people who have been shopping or are on our property not to ask for those items (whether you offer to pay or not). We are a small non-profit and all items that come onto our property for donation to us are being donated to help fund our food pantry and to keep us going. Without these donations, no matter how small you may think the item is, we lose money that is very important to us. For every dollar we get for a donated item, we can purchase nearly 10 pounds of food from the food bank. This means a lot to us because we assist nearly 11,000 people annually.
Furthermore, the only benefit from the government that we get is the ability to get commodity food items from the Federal government and Massachusetts Emergency Food Program, both of which are distributed via the Western Mass Food Bank. And, as a member agency of the Food Bank, we are able to purchase food from them at a lower cost than the stores. We do not receive any grants or monies from any government agencies. We rely totally on donations from local residents and farmers (donated items and financial donations), businesses (food items and financial donations), local churches and some non-profit groups (financial and food donations). And as our supporters are aging, our local financial donations are dropping and this is a major concern.
We have not talked about this publicly, but we are hurting and we must do something so that our organization can continue to serve our county. This small incident brought me to realize that it is time to let people know that times are tough here at the Franklin Area Survival Center and every little bit that comes to us means more than what you may think.
If you have items to donate to us, please make sure that they are clean and able to be sold to our clients. We have gotten a lot of items that we have had to pay to throw away and that is costly to us. Consider before you donate whether or not you would purchase the items the way they are, if you wouldn't our clients wouldn't.
Items should not be cracked, chipped, broken, glued together, dirty, ripped, rusted, missing buttons, zippers, etc. Microwaves, crockpots, coffee pots, telephones, etc., should all be in working order and cleaned. Clothing should be clean and placed in plastic bags. We cannot accept clothing on hangers or that are not in bags.
We are no longer able to take wooden or metal beds frames, but will accept bed rails as long as we do not have too many in stock. We will make an exception for complete bedroom sets that are in great shape.
A reminder that we will pick up large items such as bureaus, couches, many bags of clothing and linens, several boxes of housewares, tools, etc. Please call the store to arrange pick up. We do, however, retain the right to decide not to take items because they do not meet our requirements for donating to us.
Thank you for your continued support. I am at the center most Saturdays if you would like to talk with me personally. Thank you and have a great day!
