Derby resident Jessica Beck Friday expressed thanks for the help she received from St. Vincent de Paul, Helping Hands of the Valley Thrift Shop and Food Bank.
“This is like a miracle,” she said, as several teen-aged volunteers filled her car with wrapped presents for her children, ages 7 and 8. “The kids get what they want (for Christmas).”
The nonprofit thrift shop at 237 Roosevelt Drive in Derby distributes age and gender-appropriate gifts to needy clients each Christmas, in addition to bags of food.
Thrift shop manager Cindy Barbian said this year the organization helped more than 100 families in the Valley.
“Each family received six bags of groceries, a turkey, fresh meats, produce, and dairy products,” she said.
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Director Sandi Bailie said the organization gave out food and gifts with a total value of $161,764. She and Barbian both said getting ready for Christmas this year was difficult.
“Donations were harder to get,” Bailie said.
Barbian said some companies that had adopted families in the past didn’t participate this year.
“We got our last family adopted out just last week,” she said. “It was a real struggle this year to adopt out our families.”
Barbian thanked the businesses, companies, churches, and individuals that took the time to adopt their clients and purchase specific items on their wish lists.
“If not for the generosity of everyone who adopted, we would not have been able to accomplish what we did,” she said.
One person can make a difference in the lives of others, and the donors are proof of that, Barbian said.
Ansonia resident Chanel Owens, a single mother of two children, ages 15 and 12, was also thankful for the shop.
“I wouldn’t know what to do without St. Vincent de Paul. They’re really good people. Programs like this make it better for the kids,” she said.
And Shelton resident Christie Woods commended the organization and staff. “(Bailie) does a great job,” she said.
Woods said her son, Michael Woods, 19, volunteers in the food bank, and she often shops at the store.
As in past years, the food distribution was handled by Jim Guarrera, an owner of Carey & Guarrera Real Estate in Shelton, his employees, and friends.
The nonprofit will be closed for the holiday season and reopen Jan. 5.
Barbian said donations have been way down and the shop needs donations of winter apparel — coats, hats, gloves and boots — for men, women and children.
Bailie said the shop also needs volunteers for both weekday and Saturday shifts. Contact her in the New Year at 203 – 734-7577.
