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Beacon Rescue Mission |
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~ A Christian, Community Based Shelter in Dunn, NC ~ |
-Latest News!-
(12/11/2007) This time of year seems to be the busiest time here in the main office of the Beacon. Last Tuesday we had 23 people come to us needing help. The situations range from simply being stranded to house fires to rape cases and everything in between.
Today, two men are moving into their own
place. We have a father and son here now
trying to get on their feet. So far this week
two ladies and one man have checked into the
shelter. We currently have three ladies, and
six men.
35 Year Old Thrift Store Still Raising Funds for the
Lord’s Work Bargain Box in Lillington Now Run
by Beacon Rescue Mission
In 1970, the Bargain Box thrift store was started in Lillington by women of three area churches, the United Methodist, the Lillington Baptist, and the Lillington Presbyterian, to raise money to help needy people in the community.
The Bargain Box has a rich history and has involved many charitable people in Lillington for the past 35 years. Manned by volunteers two days a week, this interdenominational thrift store received donations of clothing, shoes, jewelry, toys, furniture and a wide variety of household items. These were either sold for very low prices to raise money to meet many needs in the community, or donated to those in emergency situations.
Judy Kelly, a volunteer at The Bargain Box for many years, has a collection of newspaper articles and church newsletters that tell the history of this ministry. According to this information, the Bargain Box was first located in an old florist’s building (actually shaped like a box) on the site of the current Lillington Fire Department. Mrs. Andy Jackson loaned the business $20.00 for change, and the store opened on April 30, 1970.
Thursdays and Saturdays were chosen as the days of operation because more people would be in town on those days. (At that time shots were given at the Health Department on Thursdays.)
In 1972, Ella Turner Atkins offered the use of her building on Front Street to the Bargain Box. It had housed the Lillington Post Office many years before. For the next twenty-five years, Miss Atkins rented the building to the business for a minimal charge and actually paid the water bill herself. That building was sold some time after her death in 1997 and it looked like the Bargain Box would have to close. But in April of that year, A.B. Sherman came to the volunteers at the thrift store and offered to rent them the building across the street, at 5 West Front Street, which is the current site of the store. This was the former location of the Johnson and Bryan Grocery Store. It later housed The Fabric Shop, and then was the location of McPhail’s Home Care.
In October of this year, the Beacon Rescue Mission took over the operation of The Bargain Box, and continues the work of this thrift store to help meet needs in the community. Shelves are still stocked with donations of used clothing and household items that are sold to the public at low prices, and the store is now open from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.
In addition to supporting the Beacon Christian Emergency Shelter in Dunn, this thrift store still helps people who are in emergency need of clothing or household items, which are given free of charge to those who are referred by various county agencies, ministers, teachers, and school social workers. Information about the Beacon Rescue Mission can be found on the website www.beaconmission.com, or by calling the shelter in Dunn at (910) 892-5772. The number for the Lillington Beacon Thrift Store is (910) 893-2104.
-Past News-
8/25/05 Right now one man is out looking for work. A family came into the The Shelter yesterday who had been sleeping in the bed of their broken pickup truck, The husband has a good job and they only need a little while to get on their feet. The son and his mother are in the laundry room washing all of their laundry now.
We currently have seven men here at the shelter one man has his son with him. We have two families here, another mother with her son and two single ladies.
We have more people here than we normally are able to handle because of the family that came in yesterday, but after finding out about their situation we pulled two beds into the men's hall area and made room. Last week one man moved into his own place. I saw him at church last night and he said, with a grin on his face, that things were going great! A young man was brought to the mission two nights ago who had been stranded away from home by a group of friends. He was here in NC with no ID or money and was on his way back to Florida on foot. We were able to let him stay overnight and get cleaned up and gave him a backpack for him to put his things in for the journey. He left with a sack full of snacks and drinks, a Gospel track, rested and ready for the trip. He was hoping to catch a ride south.
We have been putting a new steel roof on the Shelter building this past week! Because of money raised through E-bay sales we have been able to purchase materials needed for the job. Yesterday we ordered the second half of the tin for the roof. We got several quotes from local roofers for the job and found out that we could save thousands of dollars by doing the job ourselves. We are nearly half way done now.
6/30/05 last week two men moved into their own place. Today one lady moved out this morning. The air conditioner went out in the cafeteria and we have been trying to decide what to do to replace it soon. We have been saving money towards a new room on the front of our building. Earlier this year we were able to replace the back roof thanks to a donation by LBM Inc. We plan to replace the shingles with a steel roof to decrease maintenance and eliminate leaks for decades (hopefully). Thanks to "E-Bay Joe" we have over five thousand dollars towards this project. We have a new hard working truck driver, Todd, who is happy to be a new addition to the Ministry.
5/3/05 Two of the ladies staying at the
shelter with their children both prayed and asked
the Lord to save them las
t Sunday. One of the ladies
prayed in her Sunday School class before the morning
service, and the other lady went forward to
surrender to the Lord at the end of the evening
service. We thank the Lord for allowing us to help
Him in His work of reaching and saving souls!
(photo right) Doretha and her beautiful children. The future just got much brighter for them as God begins leading this family now that Mom has surrendered to Jesus as her Lord. Doretha now has a full time job, and her employers say she is doing great! Next comes finding a good home for her family.
4/29/05 Tomorrow the family of five will be moving to their new home. The mother has a great job and the family has saved the money they needed to get a new start.
- Clinton Thrift Store is now open! Tell your friends...word of mouth from our customers is our best advertisement!
New Life Baptist Church works with Beacon Mission to open new Thrift Store in Clinton
Late in 2004 the Directors of the Beacon Mission in Dunn began praying about and looking for a store location in the Clinton area to increase funds for the growing needs at the Mission. Gene Love, Director of the Mission, spoke to Pastor David Page at the New Life Baptist Church in Clinton about his goals. While Pastor Page was speaking to his congregation about this new ministry opportunity, a lady in the nursery listening over the intercom system said that she "almost fell out of her chair." It turned out that Mrs. Edna White and her husband had already been praying about opening a thrift store in the Clinton area to support a ministry, and had been looking for buildings to rent but nothing had come together. Mrs. White expressed her desire to help raise funds for Beacon Rescue Mission and charities in the Clinton area. All of us at the Mission were thrilled to find someone in Clinton who was willing to be a part of our Ministry. What evolved was a business that would raise funds for the Beacon Rescue Mission and also raise money for Clinton area Ministries.
In January of this year, Beacon Rescue Mission worked out a deal with Gene Parson and Dr. John Smith to help remodel and lease their building located at 80 Isaac Weeks Rd. in Clinton.
People in the Clinton area are happy to hear about the new Thrift Store opening in town which will help support the Beacon Emergency Shelter as well as other ministries in the Clinton area. It’s always amazing to see how the Lord can take people from different locations with a common desire to serve, and put them together in a way that works better than either one could do on their own.
Volunteers from New Life Baptist Church have been working hard to get the new store stocked. Many other people in the community have been stopping by bringing donations and asking what they can do to help and when the store would open. The Clinton Beacon Thrift Store opened it’s doors for business on Friday, April 1st. The store phone number is (910) 592-0006. The store is open Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- One of our minivans blew a head gasket this past week
Last week our Chevy van had to be towed from Central Baptist Church parking lot. The van had been patched up and taped together as long as possible but it finally gave up the ghost. We are currently looking for a replacement van and trying to find money to replace it with.
- We have two great new Managers for the surrounding area Thrift Stores.
A few days after Christmas our main store manager, Charlotte Hayes passed away unexpectedly. We weren't sure what we were going to do because we depended on Charlotte to manage six stores so we could focus on running the Ministry. We were pleased to see how well Mrs. Doris, the assistant manager, stepped up to the task. During the first few weeks, Doris' husband Bruce was off of work so he volunteered to help his wife get situated into the new position. After those few weeks we realized that Bruce was nearly indispensable and we approached him about working with also. Now Bruce and his wife, Doris are co-managers of the stores in this area and are doing an excellent job.
2/09/05 This week we checked in a family of five. Yesterday another lady here with four children got a job!! Today one man is securing housing. This week two other men moved out already and are doing great and still attending church with us. Right now we have three ladies, seven children and seven men. THAT'S FIFTY ONE MEALS A DAY!!! We are working on opening a Thrift Store in Clinton. We hope to have it open by the beginning of March. Our vision is to raise additional funds for the Mission and be able to support Ministries in the Clinton with part of the proceeds also! Miss Edna White is a lady that lives in the Clinton area who will be running this store. She is looking for volunteers to help her in this Ministry
12/23/04 today we have been cleaning and getting ready for Christmas. Everyone is excited and looking forward to Christmas morning. All of the children here now have been adopted and have toys on the way!
12/7/04 Today we are enjoying all of the beautiful Christmas decorations that the ladies auxiliary put up yesterday afternoon. currently our men's division is full to capacity with men sleeping out in the hall area. We have been surprised by the number of young ladies with babies that have been coming to us for help. Over the past three weeks we have helped about five ladies with small children. These ladies (girls) range from seventeen to mid twenties. We anticipate an exciting Christmas around the Shelter. We are collecting information now to make sure that everyone here will have a special holiday.