Food bank's second-hand store set to open this month

Second Helpings, a new thrift store benefiting Flathead Food Bank, has a feast of goodies waiting for hungry bargain hunters at its grand opening Oct. 20.

When the board decided last July to ask the community for donations, no one anticipated the avalanche of everything imaginable that would roar into their large sunny store, located in the former Corral West space at Gateway Community Center.

Lori Botkin, executive director of the food bank, was stunned by the response.

“Holy Hannah!” she said. “The support we had from this community was overwhelming. They filled us up so much that we couldn’t open the store because we couldn’t get to the spots we needed to set up.”

 By mid-July, they had to rent storage units to free up space to organize. More donations continued to arrive at the intake area on the south side of store. So much came in that the storage units still remain full.

“You wouldn’t believe the stuff we have here,” Botkin said. “Housewares, plates, coffee pots, toasters — it’s crazy. We have so many quality clothes. It’s incredible.”

She was particularly heartened by the help from other local thrift stores owned by Ray of Hope and Flathead Industries. Those organizations sent inventory and provided other assistance.

“Instead of forming negative, competitive relationships, we formed nurturing relationships,” Botkin said. “There’s enough business for everyone. Thrift-store people go to all of them.”

 As of Tuesday, Botkin said the store was close to ready to go. She provided a tour starting at the door cut between the food bank and Second Helpings spaces at the former mall.

The door and the intake area were the only construction projects necessary to get the space converted to a thrift store.

“Coffee pots, coffee pots, coffee pots and toasters,” Botkin said, pointing to the neat display of housewares. “Everyone of them works.”

She stopped to admire a tiny ceramic salt and pepper shaker set, and then pointed out the rows of children’s clothes. Most looked like they had seen gentle use.

“You wouldn’t believe how much new stuff comes in,” she said. “People give us nice stuff.”

In the book section, volunteer Eva Nell Kowalski was busy organizing piles of publications. Botkin said Kowalski had shuffled, organized and reshuffled the books in a quest for the perfect department. 

 “She started the book section in the beginning,” she said. “She has just been a godsend.”

Kowalski said she enjoyed volunteering at Second Helpings. She had books of all varieties sorted into fiction and nonfiction genres with categories including autobiographies, science and nature, medicine, religion, how-to, fitness, auto and more.

“There are so darned many Porsche books,” Botkin said. “She [Kowalski] found one that she checked on the Internet. It’s worth a lot of money.”

With items priced by category, shoppers have a chance to score big at this thrift store. Botkin sees that as a real draw for the food bank’s store.

“It’s solid pricing. Jeans are one price, and shoes are one price,” she said. “That’s really different. You’ll be able to find treasures.”

She was working out the pricing structure at the time of the interview. Botkin said most things will be “a couple of bucks.”

Clothes are sized for the convenience of shoppers. Botkin said the staff and volunteers try very hard to keep things organized.

She was thankful for the many and diverse shelving units provided by local stores, including Albertsons, Smith’s, Super 1 Foods and TJ Maxx during renovation work. Botkin particularly likes the classy clear shelves obtained from a store that went out of business.

“They make us look so upper end,” she said.

The store’s upstairs space serves as storage for various classifications of goods. One room holds household goods organized in crates. Another is packed with Christmas items, while a third holds a mountain of art and baskets.

“I never knew so many baskets existed,” she said with a laugh. “When we held our soup supper, we couldn’t find any baskets.”

With just a paid manager and four paid staff, Second Helpings relies on volunteers and still needs additional help getting and keeping the store in grand-opening shape.

“People can come in a couple hours a week and manage a little department like the craft department,” Botkin said. “Volunteers like to take a department and make it their own, setting up displays and changing them.”

She hired Victoria Zimmer, a recent University of Montana graduate, as the manager. Zimmer earned a degree in nonprofit management.

Most of the other employees worked first as volunteers, which Botkin highly recommends for job-seekers.

“Why wouldn’t I hire them? We know their work experience and how they deal with people,” she said. “It’s great to hire people who were unemployed but made good use of their time volunteering for a nonprofit.”

Second Helpings expects to create more jobs once the store gets rolling. The doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Botkin can’t wait. She described herself, Zimmer and all the volunteers as exhausted.

At certain times during the last few months, Botkin admits asking herself, “What were we thinking?” As she walks back to the food bank, the answer is clear in the number of people lined up for boxes.

With government funding for food purchases sharply cut in the last legislative session, the food bank faced the possibility of turning away the growing number of people with empty cupboards and no jobs to help fill them. 

“Everyone has worked so hard to make this successful,” Botkin said. “We’re passionate about it. We know how important it is to feed people.”

For information about volunteering, call Botkin at 752-3663.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.