GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A thrift store with a special mission is relocating. Meet some of the people who say AbleLight, which gives employment opportunities to people with developmental disabilities, has taught them so much.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
What you find in a thrift store can often surprise you. I’m your Green Bay neighborhood reporter Pari Apostolakos and I learned how one secondhand shop in Green Bay has left people with much more than money can buy.
Take a peek inside the store's Military Avenue location on its second-to-last day open:
Jennifer Beaupre has been working at AbleLight thrift store in Green Bay since 2012.
"The customers and the people you work with, the volunteers, are spectacular," Beaupre said.
That's because AbleLight isn't like any other thrift store.
"All of our thrift stores, 100% of the profit goes back into our mission to support those with intellectual disabilities," Angelica Pfitzinger, AbleLight store manager, said. "Our staff, we hire those with intellectual disabilities and offer work experience for those that otherwise wouldn't get the opportunity."
The location on Military Avenue, one of several in the state, has helped toward that mission for more than 45 years.
"We had a whole room for books and now we're just down to like two shelves," Pfitzinger said on a walk through the store.
July 3 at 4 p.m. things will change.
"This is all of our empty fixtures and prepping stuff to move to the new store," Pfitzinger said, pulling aside room dividers.
AbleLight will move to a location at 2269 True Lane for more space and an easier donation drop off area.
But the mission remains the same.
[jennifer beaupre, ablelight employee]
"I've learned so much working here, so much," Beaupre said.
"We get a lot of customers that they learn something new," Pfitzinger said. "It may take a minute longer to be checked out or to get help finding something, but it makes someone's day to be able to like, offer that resource."
AbleLight’s new location is expected to open in September.
