Ennis Daily News: Shelves Running Low

    3/17/2009, by Candie Beck-Adams

With the need of donations for any relief agency becoming more and more important in the current economy, Helping Hands of Ennis finds themselves at a point of concern.

Donations of clothing and household items, which the agency usually receives, have gone from trickling in to having the faucet shut off as the thrift store prepares to meet the needs of the community. Thrift store manager Tisha Brown said while the store still has items on the shelves now, that might not always be the case if donations don’t start coming in.

“The donations that we usually have stored away for emergencies or when specific items in the store front are low are just not coming in right now and we need to be concerned with this situation,” Brown said. “The store is still stocked at the present time, but without donations there may come a time when the selection of items is limited. We try to avoid those situations because the more items we have on hand, the better able we are to assist families in times of emergencies.”

While some might call the agency’s lack of donations a sign of the times, Brown is choosing to believe that some people just aren’t aware of the many services the agency provides for those wishing to donate. As well as accepting donations at the store six days a week until 2:30 p.m., the agency will also schedule a pick up of leftover garage sale items during the week until 1 p.m. if the owner contacts Brown at the thrift store.

“We have lots of ways for people to donate to the agency and some people might not be aware that we will go collect items if they call us to schedule a pick-up time during the week,” Brown said. “We understand that sometimes people would like to donate but do not have a way of bringing things to our offices, so we will do what we can to make that happen. Of course we still accept donations left at the designated area in front of the warehouse doors at the store as well.”

While donations left at the storefront are taken inside during the day, Brown does caution that not all items left overnight or on the weekends make it to the store.

“We can’t always guarantee that items left overnight or on Sunday actually get to the store for various reasons, so we are asking those that make donations at night on their way home from work to consider dropping them off on their way to work in the morning instead,” she said. “We are trying to do whatever we can to make sure the items get to people that need them most, which is our clients and any help we can get with that effort is appreciated.”

To schedule a pick-up of donated items or for more information on how to give to Helping Hands, contact Tisha Brown at 972-875-0218 or visit the agency’s Web site at hhennis.org.

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