Catholic Charities of Flint will use the proceeds to help all those in need, regardless of their faith. Boutiques and bodegas were hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown. Marked as non-essential, the owners of many small businesses saw the fruits of their many years of labor destroyed after having to shut their doors for months.
In Flint, Michigan, after one such boutique went under, its remaining inventory became the property of the building’s owner. A news report from ABC explains that the new owner had no interest in trying to revive the failed shop and instead decided to donate the remaining stock to Catholic Charities of Genesee and Shiawassee counties.
In the interview with Ann Pierret of ABC news, Theresa Hurley, Fund Development Director for Catholic Charities, explained that the organization is in need of funds to keep its food drive efforts strong, and so they are selling everything. The shop lists suggested prices, but they are open to negotiation.
“It goes right back to Catholic Charities. So we are feeding, I mean, in the last three months, we fed over 25,000 people. And so the cost to do that is extremely high,” she explained. “Plus, our counseling services have really been in high demand. So, this will help us offset all of those costs.”
Catholic Charities provides many invaluable services to the public, services that have been in much higher demand since the world pandemic began. Their good works include soup kitchens, providing personal care items, offering counsel to those in need, and much more. They hope that the proceeds from this fundraiser will help them continue their efforts in the months to come. Hurley said:
“And people are not aware of all of those services that we are able to provide for everybody — and whether you’re Catholic or not. So that’s the one thing, you know, it doesn’t matter — we do all faith bases.”
