Sometimes something bad ends up creating something good in its place.
Take for example the financial status of CrossWord Café.
Without additional funding, the café which gives Chillicothe youth a place to a hang out after school, may have closed down.
At the dedication of the café’s treehouse loft April 15, a project completed by the teenagers, café officials announced a $10,000 goal with a target of Oct. 10. In September, the café will turn 10 years old.
Before May ended, the café had its $10,000, put over the top by the Chillicothe Lions Club’s donation of $500.
John Heffron, director of Cross-Word Café, said the outpouring of financial support for the youth center was “very encouraging.”
“What we will work toward now is finding ways to get monthly income support,” said Heffron, who also said some churches give regularly to the café.
One of the ways the café will receive regular income is from the Community Charities Re-Sale Shoppe.
Based on the model of the successful rummage sale May 13-15 for CrossWord Café, the shoppe was born.
After hitting walls in trying to start a resale shop in Chillicothe, Brent Ressler, executive director of Small World Connections, said the answer came from God.
“He showed us a different way to do this,” said Ressler.
The shop, which will be run by both the boards of Small World Connections and CrossWord Café, will split its proceeds with those two groups, plus a third group, which most likely will change each week.
Small World Connections sends local missions teams around the world.
Originally, the previous rummage sales assisted the café, Small World and the Love-In-Action food pantry.
But now, other groups needing to raise funds may join the enterprise.
By providing at least one volunteer to assist in staffing the sale and encouraging residents to donate and shop at the store, other local groups may share in the profits of the enterprise.
“The indicator is that people are getting behind it,” Ressler said.
In gross sales alone during the three rummage sales, the group made almost $4,700, Ressler said.
The group is still working out all the details, Ressler said.
The Community Charities Re-Sale Shoppe, located at 1040 Second St., is open for donations from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, which residents may pull up front, or if need be, go to the back of the building.
Residents then may shop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays each week.
Hired to help in the venture is manager Sherry Adams, who assisted in the rummage sales.
She said residents can “get good stuff for cheap.”
Most clothes are $1, books 50 cents, and lots of housewares, seasonal items, toys, men’s items and more. They even had donations of a dishwasher and furniture.
“They don’t need to drive to Peoria,” said Adams. “They can just come here.”
This week the Chillicothe Christian Church’s youth missions team will receive a third of the proceeds.
For groups to find out more or get on the schedule, call Adams at 274-2368.
