Idaho Youth Ranch kicks off thrift store operations at Interfaith State Street location
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — On Thursday, the Idaho Youth Ranch began their thrift store operations at Interfaith Sanctuary's State Street location.
"The staff started the first grating of items and sorting this morning, and so, this is a really a brand-new experience for us. We've had to simplify things. It's not going to be as high capacity as we're used to," said Jeff Myers, vice president of marketing communications for Idaho Youth Ranch.
The Youth Ranch will be temporarily using the State Street location to help sort through donations, prepare them, and ship them off to the thrift stores.
"When we saw what happened with the fire and the fact that we're still on the design process, we probably won't be starting remodeling until spring. It seemed like if it could help, we should reach out and offer it to them,' said Jodi Peterson-Stigers, executive director for Interfaith Sanctuary.
It was on July 18, the Idaho Youth Ranch outlet store and distribution center went up in flames, causing damage to the facility and goods.
"Literally there's millions of dollars of product that was ready to go to the stores, that were not going to have access to so, it's a tremendous impact on the organization," Myers said.
Everything that was inside the building must be thrown away. Now, the Youth ranch must start from scratch.
"All these things were people's treasure's that they trusted us with and donated to us to help fund the mission of the Idaho Youth Ranch, and so to see the results of the fire and the damage to these, it gets you in the heart," Myers said.
The State Street location is just what the Youth ranch needs to help continue its mission, until they can move back home.
"The stores are an important leg of our funding for our programs and without this, we just don't have the capacity, the space, the manpower in the store to sort all of those donations. So, having this space just makes a tremendous difference," Myers said.
Donations and shopping will not be available at the State Street location, but people are encouraged to bring donations to any Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store starting August 7.
The Youth Ranch will also betaking monetary donations HERE.
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