Jason Arndt, jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt Resale Store assistant Percy Schwerke cleans an item prepared for sale Thursday. The store, located behind the Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource Center, is closing to provide more space for the food pantry.
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt Resale Store manager Shirley Ebelt waits to check out customers Thursday. The store, located behind the Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource Center, is closing to provide more space for the food pantry.
The Resale Store behind the Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource Center will close its doors to make room for more storage space for the pantry.
The SAFPARC board of directors decided Thursday to close the store, which opened 11 years ago, when its inventory is depleted.
The store sells a variety of items, including furniture, televisions, books and seasonal decor. Proceeds from the sale of donated household items all go to the food pantry, 218 E. Richmond St., Shawano.
“It was a joint decision,” said Flo Withers, coordinator of SAFPARC. “At the food pantry, we had storage problems.”
“The pantry has grown to great numbers, and they are going to need the space,” agreed Shirley Ebelt, who helped open the Resale Store.
Ebelt said the store will no longer accept donations and is liquidating its inventory for the eventual closure.
“Right now we are keeping this open until we have no customers or no merchandise,” Ebelt said.
Ebelt said she and store assistant Percy Schwerke began discussing the closure about two months ago.
“Percy and I are both going to be 82 years old in the spring, and we feel that this was the right time,” Ebelt said.
Schwerke previously ran a food pantry at Shawano United Methodist Church, and opted to join SAFPARC when he learned of the opportunity.
The positive experience he had at the Resale Store led him to join the board of directors and remain as a volunteer.
“When I decided to get involved with this, I knew this was going to be a wonderful thing and it has,” Schwerke said.
Schwerke said there has been a steady decrease of donations since the store opened.
However, both have been grateful to the community support for more than a decade.
“We would like to thank them for their commitment over the last 11 years … and I hope to see them at the pantry,” Ebelt said.
Proceeds from the Resale Store have helped the food pantry pay expenses, purchase food and maintain the property, Withers said.
Withers said the food pantry remains strong, courtesy of a generous community.
“We got the best donors out there that support us,” Withers said. “The community is behind us.”