Renovated thrift store to boost community

An area ministry's leaders hope a newly renovated thrift store will bring a much-needed boost in revenues that support crisis assistance.

Eastern Catawba Cooperative Christian Ministry (ECCCM) recently finished a complete overhaul of its thrift store in Newton.

“It had gotten so bad over the years that it had turned into a junk store,” said the Rev. Robert Silber, ECCCM executive director. “People would walk in, take a quick look and walk out.”

The thrift store, which is open about six days a week, provides clothes, shoes, furniture, cookware and other everyday items at a reduced price to area residents.

Every penny from the store’s proceeds benefit ECCCM’s crisis-assistance programs in Catawba County.

To read more of this story, pick up the Friday edition of Catawba County's community newspaper, The Observer News Enterprise, at newsstands throughout the county.