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| Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Gloria Austin NEW LOCATION — Debbie Pelkey, assistant program director for Catholic Charities stands outside the location for a new thrift store in Monticello. The storefront will be in the same building as the Catholic Charities Home Supplies and Food Bank. |
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
MONTICELLO — A new thrift store is opening in Monticello on Saturday, April 27. The Catholic Charities Home Supplies and Food Bank has taken part of its storage area for its recycling center at 155 U.S. Route 1 and turned it into a spacious 100-foot long storefront area.
“We are excited and we cannot wait,” said Debbie Pelkey, assistant program director for Catholic Charities. “We’ve built the store inside the building. We had to put in new entrances and new doors. We also added windows to let in natural light. We’ve just finished some painting, with more to do next week.”
The Monticello Thrift Store will carry a variety of household items.
“We carry a little bit of everything,” said Pelkey. “Furniture, knick-knacks, do-dads, small and large appliances, clothes — anything you can use in your home — we accept all general household items in good working condition.”
The new store will be open Wednesday through Saturdays. The typical business hours will be Wednesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
“If the turnout is good and the call is good, we will expand the hours at some point,” said Pelkey. “But, as of now, we don’t know if that will happen.”
Catholic Charities Home Supplies and Food Bank have been running two other thrift stores in Aroostook County. The Presque Isle store has been open almost two years, while the Caribou store is the longest running. Catholic Charities has been in Caribou for more than 11 years and has been in its current building for four years.
Catholic Charities has replicated what they started in Caribou and the Monticello store will be their third in the County and their fifth in the state, as CCME has a thrift store in Portland and they are opening one in Sanford April 18.
“People in Aroostook County are very generous to us,” said Pelkey. “They support us and they believe in our cause.”
General donations always seem to be coming into one of those sites.
“The sales are good,” said Pelkey. “Thrifting is the ‘in’ thing. I think sites like Pinterest on Facebook have helped with those crafters. We have tons of craft supplies and materials. It is good for the do-it-yourselfer who wants to be thrifty.”
Catholic Charities Home Supplies and Food Bank have been renting their former potato house on Route 1 for a year.
“We have our recycling center where all the clothes come to be processed and are shipped out by tractor-trailer,” said Pelkey. “The store will be a new addition for us.”
There are 25 food pantries — which serve individuals — in Aroostook County from Fort Kent to Wytopitlock, with only two food banks — which serve pantries— to provide food for those pantries.
“The cost of food has increased and the demand for food has increased,” noted Pelkey.
The Monticello location will increase necessary funding to meet the increased demand on the food banks in today’s economy.
Catholic Charities is a non-profit organization, with 100 percent of the money made going to operate two food banks; one in Caribou and one in Monticello.
The thrift stores are open to the public. There are no income guidelines to shop at those stores.
The Monticello Thrift Store will be hiring a full-time store manager and two part-time call-in positions.
Donations can be made to the northern thrift stores until the Monticello site is open. To arrange for a pick up of items, call Fred (Food Bank manager) at 493-8915.
Right now, people may bring items to be donated to the Monticello site between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.
“Once the store is open, we can take donations almost every day of the week,” Pelkey added.
