Thrift store helps kidney patients

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Thrift store helps kidney patients
By JL Watson
jlwatson@news-press.com
Originally posted on January 26, 2008

The space is small, no more than a few hundred square feet. Within the walls, the Cape Coral Kidney Thrift Store is full of shelves and hanging racks, all full of merchandise waiting for bargain hunters to discover.

Set on a side street, the store is often overlooked by drivers who make their way down Cape Coral Parkway and neglect to take a detour to the shop with a big heart and a small budget.

“We’re struggling,” volunteer Martin Murphy said. “Sometimes, if we take in $5 or $10 a day, we’re doing good.”

The store is the last one in the state that exclusively supports kidney patients. It opened in North Fort Myers in 1978, then moved to a location on Del Prado before finding a permanent spot on Candia Street. Staffed entirely by volunteers, the store offers much of the same merchandise as larger thrift stores, but with smaller prices.

“You can’t go wrong,” vice president and volunteer Sue Stier said, walking down the stores aisles. “Look at this, children’s clothes, 50 cents, brand-new merchandise, $1; and we have all sizes from infants to plus sizes.”

Like the 35 or 40 other employees, Stier gives no less than four hours a week in service to the store. She helps keep the merchandise tidy, and goes through new items to make sure they meet the standards set forth by the members — nothing broken or torn.

“See these jeans,” she said, unfolding a pair in the small back room that serves as a break room and place to assess new donations. “They have a hole in the pocket. We won’t put those out.”

The store offers clothes, crutches and other medical devices, bedding, household items, shoes, small appliances, books and music. A few pieces of furniture rest near the front door, but volunteers have to be choosy about what kind of furniture they accept. The building is just too small for large items like sofas and tables.

“We try to keep everything sorted and in the right place,” Stier said.

Money made from sales goes to the state kidney foundation and directly to local dialysis patients. The money helps with daily living expenses.

Cape Coral resident Ida Barilla is a frequent visitor. On a recent trip to the store she found a wine box, a tin for cookies, a book and a CD. She couldn’t resist and bought all of the items but still left with change in her pocket.

“I just love to browse and I’ve found a lot of nice things in here,” she said.

Store president Ed Latwinksi said that for now the store is solvent.

“It’s sort of up and down because the economy is down,” he said. “We’re seeing more shoppers on some days who come into the store rather than going to a retail store.”

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CAPE CORAL KIDNEY THRIFT STORE
• What: Cape Coral Kidney Thrift Store
• Where: 4836 Candia St.
• Hours: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday
• Donation info: 945-1835

• What: Cape Coral Kidney Thrift Store luncheon and card party
• When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 27
• Where: St. Andrew Catholic Church, 1509 S.E. 27th St.
• Cost: $10 donation
• Info: 542-0077 or 945-1835

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