MILTON — My Father’s Arrows, a Northwest Florida and South Alabama orphans ministry, is opening a thrift store in Milton.
The 10,000 square-foot building — at 6606 Elva St., Milton —will help the nonprofit organization:
●Centralize MFA resources
●Provide jobs to youths aged out of the foster care system
●Raise funds for development of a children’s home
●Provide volunteer work space for mentoring and tutoring
In other words, it will help volunteers continue a mission MFA founder Sarah Ellis said has served at least 12 families and 33 children; one that also has furnished seven state-provided apartments to children who aged out of foster care.
The store — on a two-year lease — still needs water hooked up, but a fresh coat of paint and cleaning are in the works. Saturday, Ellis scheduled a work day for volunteers to start stocking shelves, and there will be more work days to come. She said she has enough clothes and old furniture — from Pensacola’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, no less — among other items to fill the store.
MFA’s board of directors recently struggled with whether to continue renting trucks or to buy a truck, but Kim and Steve Bobe’s donation of a box truck — perfect for carting things to and from the organization’s Jay headquarters — was the answer to a prayer, Ellis said.
As far as the store’s concerned, things are set, with a May 9 or 10 opening and tentative hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, Ellis said. And, with so much space inside and out, she said plans may call for a farmers market and ladies nights.
But more help is needed for Northwest Florida and South Alabama children.
If someone can’t foster a child, there’s no shortage of other ways to help, whether that’s volunteering through mentoring or financially supporting foster families, she said.
Foster parenting isn’t for everyone — Ellis knows that — but her motto is simple:
“Yeah, but can you…?”
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WANT TO HELP?
WHAT: My Father’s Arrows workdays
WHEN: 11 a.m. April 9 and 9 a.m. April 23
WHERE: 6606 Elva St., Milton
CONTACT: Facebook.com/myfathersarrows
WHAT: My Father’s Arrows workdays
WHEN: 11 a.m. April 9 and 9 a.m. April 23
WHERE: 6606 Elva St., Milton
CONTACT: Facebook.com/myfathersarrows
WANT TO HELP?
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Orphan ministry to open Milton thrift store