The Caring Place is happy to announce the re-introduction of Saturday shopping hours at both thrift store locations and the scheduling of pickups for furniture donations.
- Store Hours: (Beginning November 9th)
The Shops at The Caring Place at 2000 Railroad Avenue is open Monday-Saturday, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. No appointment necessary.
Second Helping at 3700 Williams Drive is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Customers are encouraged to shop by appointment at caringplacetx.org/shop.
- Donation Hours: Item donations can be made in the drive through at 2000 Railroad Avenue on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
- Furniture Pick-Ups: Furniture pick ups are now available on Wednesdays and Fridays by calling 512-943-0711 and leaving a message. For more information about donating new and gently used items, please visit The Caring Place website at caringplacetx.org/donatemystuff.
Executive Director Ginna O’Connor shares, “The Caring Place’s priority is fulfilling our mission to provide for basic human needs, and we are ensuring that, as we scale up, everything that we’ve already committed to is safely established. We are incredibly grateful that the time has come to add Saturday shopping hours back into our operations. We know our faithful customers have missed that, and we have, too. Our community’s thrift shoppers are a huge support to The Caring Place mission. The community’s patience as we navigate providing for neighbors in need through a pandemic has been especially noteworthy. We are truly blessed to have our community’s encouragement and support.”
The Caring Place addresses questions customers and donors have:
How does The Caring Place’s work impact the hours of Donation Days or the Stores?
- Food distribution up to 3 times a week through the donation drive through gives us limited availability to accept donations.
- Depending on the day, our staff may be called on to assist with food packing and/or distribution, as well as helping in the store which limits our ability to receive donations. Some staff travel to other sites on additional days during the month to distribute food further stretching our staff resources. We are doing our best to serve our entire service area, especially in communities that have less ability to travel to The Caring Place.
- Our staff, the Donations Team in particular, has been critical in providing both food and store support.
What role does safety play in Donation Days and Store hours?
- We make sure we have enough space in the warehouse for holding, sorting and packing food, in addition to receiving, holding and sorting donations.
- Per CDC guidelines, we let item donations sit for 2 days as a safety precaution before beginning to process them. The full carts take up most of the warehouse space.
- Because all carts may be used in the 4-hour donation drop off period, the carts from a donation drop off day have to be sorted, emptied and priced before we can hold another drop off. This process can take more than 1-1/2 weeks to complete with our current staff and volunteers.
- In March, we asked our nearly 500 volunteers to stop reporting to The Caring Place for their safety, so that we could help slow the spread of COVID-19. While we have carefully added back many volunteer positions, we are mindful of the space needed to maintain a safe distance while scaling up operations.
O’Connor shares, “Georgetown recently voted for The Caring Place as the Best Place to Volunteer/Give for the 10th consecutive year. This speaks volumes about how our community supports the work of The Caring Place. We hope our supporters will remember this as they make holiday donations this year, too. Our annual fundraiser, Deep in the Heart of Caring and shopping event, Sweets, Treats & Trees were canceled leaving us relying on monetary donations to make up that loss.”
The Caring Place notes it is not encouraging food drives this year in order to reduce handling and increase efficiency. The organization purchases food from the Central Texas Food Bank at a reduced rate due to its Platinum designation. Purchasing from the food bank allows The Caring Place to efficiently and consistently provide food for neighbors who need help.
Giving Tuesday is December 1st. There’s no better time to show your appreciation for non-profits that work to lift the community up. In the case of The Caring Place, it is tasked with providing a safety net to those in financial crisis, including families most impacted by COVID-19. The Caring Place provides food and financial assistance for rent, mortgage, utilities, transportation, emergency dental and prescriptions. If you’d like to keep this mission strong as it provides relief in your community, please make a donation at caringplacetx.org/spiritofcaring. You may also send checks to The Caring Place, PO Box 1215, Georgetown, Texas, 78627. Note "Spirit" in the memo. By joining the Spirit of Caring campaign, you are joining a group of like-minded individuals who are inspired to give in their community.
Information on current programs and services offered by The Caring Place, can be found at caringplacetx.org/covid19.
ABOUT THE CARING PLACE
Since 1985, The Caring Place has provided for the basic human needs of all people in our community in a welcoming, respectful and caring way. The Caring Place is a community-based and community-supported organization. For more information on The Caring Place, visit www.caringplacetx.org.
