Thrift store gives child care center a hand with costs

(Photo Contributed) Julie Schmitz, left, and Lisa Wilcox arrange craft items in the Believe corner of the Helping Hands thrift shop. The store was opened last year to help offset parent rates for child care at Akron Children's Center. The shop is in the old American Legion building, 251 North Fifth St. in Akron. [Click to enlarge]

Akron community members joined hands last year to help save parents money on child care.

Helping Hands thrift store was born to help with costs at Akron Children's Center after minimum wage increased last year and the nonprofit center had to hike its rates to offset employee salaries.

"Child centers are one of the workplaces that often start employees at the minimum wage, so that put a huge pressure on our children's center budget," said Mary Lucken, co-founder of Helping Hands. "We wanted to keep our child care affordable, but we had to be able to pay our teachers."

So people got together and came up with Helping Hands as an ongoing fundraiser to provide support to the center, which in turn has kept its rates affordable, Lucken said.

"Except for the cost of utilities, 100 percent of our income goes to support our daycare," Lucken said.

Since Helping Hands opened, Akron Children's Center has not raised its rates, which are used to pay employee wages and ongoing expenses, Lucken said.

At least 70 men and women have given their time to get the nonprofit thrift shop up and running. All items sold there are donated, Lucken said.

"Every ounce of work that's done at Helping Hands thrift store is volunteer," she said. "We've gotten a lot of help from the community."

This past winter Helping Hands was forced to to close for a couple months because of high energy costs to run the building's old furnace, Lucken said.

That won't be a problem next winter.

"We were able to get donations for a new, efficient furnace," she said. "So now we'll be able to be open during the cold, winter months."

Something new at the shop this year are crafts, many of which are made out of donated items that are not acceptable for sale, Lucken said.

For example, lots of blue jeans come in the door that don't make the cut.

"We have a lady that cuts the pockets out of them and makes cute little purses," Lucken said. "We also have craft items made out of new things by our crafty ladies."

Lori Rexwinkel, who also helped start Helping Hands and has a 4-year-old at Akron Children's Center, said some of the items brought in are re-purposed.

"Stuff comes in like old fabric and we say, let's just make something out of it," Rexwinkel said. "Old furniture comes in and we fix it up."

Helping Hands is housed in the former American Legion building, 251 North Fifth St.

"It was just a big, bare building when we started," Lucken said.

Starting Saturday, the thrift shop will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday throughout the entire year.

Rexwinkel said being a part of Helping Hands is not only about helping the child care center.

"I'm also helping people less fortunate in the community," Rexwinkel said. "It helps me feel part of something bigger than myself."