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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-12-13, Page 10Page 10 Times -Advocate, December 13, 1995 Feature There isa need for donation services and mobile resources At its location on Main Street in Zurich, Blessings Community Store, otherwise known us Blessings Unlimited, is a volunteer organization that provides approximately 5,000 square feet of donated clothes and household items at discount prices. Managed by Pearl and Andrew Kuepfer, the store moved from a small house up the street to it's present location in 1985 and has grown since. The store Pearl and Andrew Kuepfer manage 'Blessings Unlimited', a large volunteer organization in Zurich, that helps support the local food bank. Rural Response for Healthy Children, a Huron County community action program, will make its resources more accessible by putting a mobile resource bus on the road. Beginning in January, T.H.E. Bus (Toys in Homes Everywhere), to be operated by Mobile Resource Librarian Andrea Muir, will travel throughout Huron County to offer parents a lending service for toy and child care equipment as well as books, videos and activities. The bus will also provide information on other Rural Response programs such as immigrant family support, parent education, child abuse prevention and education and a parent support program. "There are a lot (of customers) that come in regularly," she said, "but there are a lot of new people that come in too." The bus program is an extension of a Rural Response partner, the Huron Home Childcare and Family Resource Centre. Rural Response began in January as a federal project with an aim to develop ongoing community-based programs. , The organization consists of four other partners including The Children's Aid Society, the Huron County Health Unit, Women Today and the Huron County Child Abuse Coordinating Committee. Begun .n Clinton last year, the resource centre is the largest library of its kind in the county. According to Muir, Huron residents who use the resource centre have expressed a need for such a service in their communities. "They may not be able to get here but we can get to them," said Jane Hoy, aprogram coordinator at Rural Response. "(It's)...one way of addressing that barrier." Hoy said the new bus comes at a time when many need it most. "The provincial cuts affect 400,000 children," she said, explaining isolation of parents in rural communities and a lack of transportation add to family stress. The mandate of Rural Response is to reach out to people and support families "so hopefully people don't get into crisis later on," explained Hoy, adding, "It's going to be amplified in terms of the need." She said the bus, as part of that prevention, will "give families a real solid foundation." In times of cutbacks, she pointed out, a resource bus is also a way to avoid duplication of services. "As the rest of the world is right now," she said, (funding)... is unpredictable." She added funding may have to come from donations in the future. "We won't need to do that for a while," she said. "But as we move along the time may come." In the meantime the organization focuses on putting needed programs such as T.H.E. Bus, in place quickly. A strategy action meeting will be held on Monday to decide bus scheduling and locations. "Elimville has been identified as a place where families are moving to," said Hoy, adding it as well as other isolated communities may be potential bus stop points. A bus route will be established with stops in a maximum of 20 communities on a two-week rotation. "Definitely I think it needs to be spread out throughout the county," said Muir of the route. "We really believe that communities are able to take care of themselves," added Hoy, "but sometimes we need to get together to do that." "There isn't a lot of education," she added. "We're building on strengths that are already there." Hoy, said programs such as T.H.E. Bus need to be sensitive to the varying needs of communities. With "1,400 toys and resources to choose from," Muir hopes the bus will help isolated rural communities in need. Living on Less: A series by Brenda Burke To conclude Living on Less, a five-part series featuring those affected by government cutbacks, a special look at creative solutions has been expanded twice. A top floor was added in 1992 followed by the completion of a back addition the following year. The community, food bank, also managed by the Kuepfers, moved from its original space at the back of the store to its own location down the street where it now shares a 4,000 square foot building with donated furniture, which is also a part of Blessing's services. Incoming store money goes to the food bank, building upkeep and numerous charities. "That comes first, purchasing food for the food bank," said Purl adding beside non-perishable items, it sometimes supplies baked goods as well as fruits and vegetables. Volunteers from Blessings Unlimited help with the food bank, which reties partly on donations from the public. "The food bank...makes up the major part of the work," said Assistant Manager Ruth Zielman-Zehr. Pearl said not only are more people donating to both the store and the food bank, but more people are using the services of both, and thus expansions were necessary. "I think it's the whole recycling, save -the -earth kind of thing," said Ruth, adding "(Why pay) $70 for a pair of Buffalo jeans when you can get . them for three bucks?" • Andrew remembers quieter times when "a dozen customers was a big day." "Hopefully the need for the food bank will decrease but right now it's increasing," said Pearl, adding half of its users are regular customers. "(Blessings Unlimited) was started with the idea that people in need could shop somewhere where they felt it was affordable," she said. Not only have peoples' attitudes about buying second-hand items changed over the years, said Pearl, bitere quality of donations has improved. Blessings Unlimited, which offers, according to Pearl, "anything that makes a house into a home," also has a donation bin in Gr nd Bend. Remembering how the store had three to four volunteers when the service first began, Pearl is "amazed" at the rate it has grown. .. Andros Muir will travel throughout Huron County • with a mobile resource bus In January.