Special Treasures

---

  Children’s Homes of Iredell County and a small group of families saw a need for a place where teenagers and young adults who are in or recently aged out of foster care can receive work experience, a steady income, financial training, tutoring, and emotional support. Thus the creation of a thrift store in Statesville called Special Treasures. The majority of the Special Treasures workforce are volunteers, which offers an opportunity for the teens in foster care who work there to receive an income and valuable work experience. Their store has impacted many teenagers that are a part of the foster care system. Their goal is to show them their value in the community and what they can accomplish. The income from the store is used to pay the youth, provide internships, support ongoing education and match funds for savings to be used for transportation, housing and other needs.  

  My first time volunteering in the Special Treasures store was in 8th grade. My job was to sort donated items and organize an area of the store to look like a children’s bedroom. Over the past few years, I’ve volunteered and organized a variety of things from an outdoor dining set to Christmas decorations. One of my favorite projects was decorating the front windows of the store for Mother’s Day. This is definitely one of the most fun and creative volunteer opportunities I have been a part of.     

Teenagers & Adults can:  

· Hang Donated Clothes 

· Sort Donations 

· Unload trucks and new shipments 

· Paint and Repair Furniture  

· Decorate and Stage the store 

· Organize the seasonal items in storage (Christmas decorations made over $7,700 in the 2016 season)    

Families can:  

· Hang Donated Clothes  

· Decorate the store   

Adults can: 

· Tutor and Mentor teenagers and young adults that are in the foster care system  

If you have a busy schedule and can’t donate your time you can donate items to the store. There is a Special Treasures drop off every Monday near the Lakefront Ballroom in the Point neighborhood in Mooresville from 10am-12pm. You can also donate financially on their website under “Get Involved.”   

http://www.special-treasures.org/get_involved

Departments of the store you can donate to: 

 · Clothing and Shoes (Men’s, Women’s, Children’s, and Prom Dresses) 

· Books 

· Children’s toys  

· Sporting Equipment  

· Electronics (CDs, DVDs, DVD Players, etc.) 

· Linens  

· Housewares 

· Furniture 

· Art & Frames  

All child and teenage volunteers must come with at least one adult  

Please call the store at 704-873-7015  

For more information go to 

www.special-treasures.org