The Child Concern Center thrift store and food bank is reopened and revamped.
The reopening comes with a refurbishment of its building on Poplar Street and a new director, Lee Sparks, who took the position after her predecessor retired to focus on other projects and help care for her grandchildren. 2020 was a rough year for the store, which closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“We’re starting anew,” said Sparks.
Volunteer Marge Lewis explained Child Concern Center has been providing for children and families for approximately 40 years, beginning with a group of Methodist church ladies who gathered food and clothing for neighbors in need.
“They had the idea that there were people in the community that did not have proper clothing ... they started with the parishioners, getting volunteers, food, clothing from them,” she said.
Member Kitty Britton gained them a building on Highway 53, where she herself continued volunteering until back surgery forced her to retire. George and Marie Christian donated the building the Child Concern Center now occupies. The interior began to show wear and tear after awhile, but Child Concern has refurbished and reorganized the building.
“We’ve had a lot of compliments on just how clean it is, because we’ve tried to organize everything by size, by age, by male or female, and just trying to put out a lot of good products that people want,” Sparks explained.
Child Concern takes donations of clothes and household goods and resells them at affordable prices for any income level. The money from that helps them provide for people in more dire circumstances.
“If you have a house fire and you lose everything, if you move here with nothing but the shirt on your back, we will help you with some clothes. I mean, obviously we can’t give everybody free (stuff) all the time, but we do we keep the prices down low enough where anybody can afford anything, and we’ll help those that need it that simply don’t have the money,” Lee said.
It also provide diapers and baby formula to families in need, a need Sparks described as “pretty big.”
“Once they come in and they bring their driver’s license, social security cards, just like they would for the food pantry, and show that they live here in this town and have a need, we’ll give them formula and diapers and wipes, and we even have pacifiers and some bottles,” she said.
Child Concern is slowly gaining its shoppers back after shutting down in 2020. Patrons remain the driving force behind Child Concern Center and its mission.
“(We hope) to see all of our clients come back again, all of our customers come in again,” Lewis said. “That’s what we need, is people to realize that we are here, we have the clothing, we want to help anybody we can, and come in and shop with us.”
Donations are always welcome too, and Lewis said they have been fortunate to have people donate quality items. People who want to do more than donate and shop are invited to volunteer, joining a good cause with a friendly team of people and contributing to the community in an impactful way. That is what Tiffany Healy decided to do when her twins went back to school. The people, especially children, are what keeps her coming back.
“I really like the clients, I get to know them. And I really like seeing their faces and how we help them and help the children,” she said.
“They become our friends,” Lewis added.
Volunteers are always needed, according to Lee, and duties typically include manning the counter, sorting donations and cleaning. Volunteers are compensated with free clothes. Anyone interested in joining the Child Concern team is invited to call the store at 573-785-3108 or send a message on the Child Concern Center Facebook page.
Child Concern Center is located at 601 Poplar St. Its hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.