Charity thrift store needs customers after break-in causes $3K loss
Donations are welcome but customers are better, says executive director
A staff member of Take Two Thrift Store on Ropewalk Lane in St. John's pulled into work Tuesday morning to find the front door of the business smashed in and a safe containing $2,500 missing.
There was also $500 in GoBus tickets in the safe.
"It's been a difficult year for us. We've had our donation bottles stolen, we had our office of Empower broken into, the alarm system went off and now this. So it seems to be escalating," said Kimberly Yetman Dawson, executive director of the office of Empower for the Disability Resource Centre in St. John's, which operates the store.
"And $3,000 might not seem like a lot of money for people, but for a small charity, that's running a social enterprise, it's a significant amount of money for us."
Yetman Dawson said tough decisions will now have to be made about what the charity can offer. She said community support is most important right now. While the store remained closed during the Jan. 17 blizzard, it paid its staff over the eight-day state of emergency in St. John's.
The store is currently running at a deficit, and January, February and March are tough months for sales, according to Yetman Dawson.
One donor has already pledged $200 after hearing about the break-in, she said.
"We're definitely looking for financial help because our bottom line is at a deficit. Donations are always good but we really need shoppers. We need people to come in and spend their money," she said.
"We're an organization that employs people that have disabilities, we have volunteers here that have disabilities, and this is their livelihood and they really enjoy working here."
Employee Margaret Hart was the first on scene on Tuesday. Hart said the security cameras weren't working properly on Tuesday, further adding to the stress of the break-in.
Hart said if the store can't get back on its feet, she'll be without a job and have nothing to fall back on which would cause her great anxiety and depression, something she has fought through before.
"This is my income. I'm a full-time employee and I'm getting paid for it. I loves it," Hart said.
"They treat me good and I treat them good. I got two co-workers here. They're really good to me."
With files from Peter Cowan