July 24

Over the last year, quite a few changes were made to re-organize our space. Since we made the decision to permanently close our furniture department, we used the room to expand our children’s department. We eliminated the children’s area in the middle of our space and moved it all to the back. This allowed us to re-organize the adult clothing area as well.

The new children’s area doubled in size. We carry a wide range of children’s items: clothes in all sizes from newborn to pre-teens, shoes, infant supplies, toys, books, strollers, carseats, pack and plays, bed linens, formula, diapers, wipes. Occasionally, we’ll receive a crib and we’ll alert our furniture ‘partner’, Don Arabian in case he has a family in need. Another ‘partner’ is the Federal Point food pantry in Carolina Beach; they recently sent in a very large donation of diapers and infant items. It’s great to be in a network of ministries that look out for each other.

My favorite item we carry are our ‘layette sets’. These are wonderful bundles of items for a newborn; a typical bundle has onesies, sleepers, outfits, blankets, bibs, towels, diapers, wipes, hat, socks, pads, a little toy, bottles and any other items we might have. These items are gathered together lovingly, often in a tote bag, and each is labeled for boy, girl or either. The recipients are always grateful when we give them one.

If anyone asked me what we need the most in the children’s area, I’d name two things: boy’s clothing and infant car seats. As the mother of two sons I could surmise that perhaps boys clothing tends to take more of a beating than the pretty girl’s things and thus might not be in the best of shape to donate. As for the car seats, that’s one of the items we rarely have on hand but receive many requests.

Special request: We are preparing to close for our August break at the end of this week. Please hold on to your donations until we re-open in September.