The Faith, Hope and Charity Recycle Store will reopen this week after being closed since mid-March.
The first day of business is this Thursday, May 21, confirmed Cheryl Worley, FHC board chairman.
“Due to a volunteer shortage, for now, we will only be open for shoppers from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” she added. “We want to keep our volunteers and customers safe, (but) we need revenue coming in and inventory going out.”
The thrift store at 449 Industrial Boulevard, which uses money from purchases to fund multiple community outreach programs, was open Wednesday-Saturday before the COVID-19 pandemic started.
New precautions in place
Several new safety precautions will part of the recycle store’s standard operating procedure for the time-being.
“Please bear with us during this trying time,” the store’s staff asked of customers in a recent Facebook post.
The new precautions include allowing only 31 customers into the store at a time, Worley said.
“That is the amount of shopping carts we have. As one buggy leaves and gets wiped down, another customer can enter,” she explained.
Face masks have to be worn by customers entering the store.
“Masks are required and customers should supply their own. Our volunteers will also be wearing masks,” Worley noted.
For general safety reasons, FHC is also asking that children under the age of 15 not be brought to the store.
Donated items will not be accepted from the public until at least May 30.
After then, donations are expected to only be accepted on Saturdays if the store’s receiving carts are available, Worley noted.
“We are looking at two weeks to catch up on the donations we have now if volunteers are comfortable getting out and coming to the store to process them. If we do, in fact, catch up, the donations days will be posted on Facebook,” she added.