Lucinda Watkins, who runs the Olds Lending Shelf (OLS), is looking forward to being able to park in her garage for the first time in about eight years, now that the organization is in a new location: the basement of the Olds United Church.
Watkins founded OLS back in 2008. It provides boxes of children's clothing for parents who are unable to dress their kids. Since its beginning, Watkins had been running the organization out of her garage and shed.
But earlier this year it was decided that OLS had outgrown that location and it was time to find something bigger and better.
Over the years, things became more and more crowded in the shed and garage as the program became more popular and OLS took on a couple of other causes.
For example, this past April, it revived the Dress For Success program, which provides gently used clothing and outerwear for women who need that support.
They also took on the Coats for Everyone program, which supplies gently used cold weather outerwear for those who need it. That program had been run out of the Church of the Nazarene, but it needed a new location after the church was hit by a hailstorm in late July.
"I had mountains of coats attacking me in my garage," Watkins says jokingly. "At our board meeting ñ it was decided last year some time ñ that we were going to start pursuing a different space."
Watkins put the word out on Facebook and the Olds United Church responded.
The move to the new location began Oct. 19.
"We're kind of doing it in phases," Watkins says. "We moved about 90 bins over there and I still have about half a shed full. Hopefully (eventually) everything will be under the same roof."
She figures they have about 120 bins altogether.
Watkins is pleased with the move.
"We've been in operation just under 10 years and I would say seven- and-a-half, eight years of that it's been in the garage. This will be my first winter in a long time parking in there ñ not that I'm excited about that," she says with a laugh.
Rev. Tammy Allan of the Olds United Church is pleased with the move too.
"What we've done is we've put them under the umbrella of our outreach ministry and so we've basically adopted them as an outreach ministry of our congregation and in turn, given them the space for free," she says.
Allan says that fits with their mandate.
"Part of it is offering space to those in the community who need it. We've got this big huge building that is not used during the week, so that and reaching out to help others."
"I had mountains of coats attacking me in my garage."LUCINDA WATKINSOLDS LENDING SHELF FOUNDER
