New equipment targeted with donation

WASILLA -- The idea of people helping people is what drives many of the nonprofit organizations across the nation, but when it happens on a local level, it's cause to celebrate.

The Blood Bank of Alaska Inc.'s Mat-Su branch, last week, accepted a $5,000 check from the Bishop's Attic, both local volunteer-based nonprofit organizations.

"I'm just tickled pink that the community supports us so well that we're able to pass it back to the community," said Bishop's Attic board president Laura Shones.

Bishop's Attic, Shones said, is run in conjunction with the Anchorage archdiocese of the Catholic Church. But the Valley thrift store is given significant autonomy when it comes to making decisions about where the money raised through the sales of second-hand goods goes. Other Bishop's Attic stores, Shones said, give the money gathered through their merchandise sales back to the archdiocese. The Palmer store collects the funds and, after expenses and a portion for a building fund are taken out, the money is earmarked to be returned to the community through donations.

Shones explained that the Palmer Bishop's Attic operates with the help of about 60 volunteers and fewer than 10 mostly part-time paid staff. During the past year, the group donated to organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, Hospice of Mat-Su, the Palmer and Wasilla senior centers and local food banks, among a host of other donations.

Who receives money and how much is given are decisions made by the general membership of the Bishop's Attic, Shones said.

"All of the money comes from what we sell," Shones said. "[And] we get to decide where it goes."

Area nonprofit organizations submit requests for donations and the Bishop's Attic board forwards their recommendations to the general membership. It's a process the group has been committed to since it got its start more than a quarter of a century ago.

The Palmer Bishop's Attic, Shones said, began in 1975 as an effort to aide fire victims. Since that time, it's gone through numerous changes, including moving into its 840 S. Bailey location in Palmer. Although Catholic parishioners, Shores said, make up about one-third of the volunteer base, a significant number of volunteers -- also about one-third -- come from members of the community who aren't affiliated with any church group. As a result, donations aren't limited to those affiliated with the Catholic Church -- or any church group.

"We try to give to everybody who asks," Shones said.

Shones said Bishop's Attic is always in need of more volunteers who are willing to help in various aspects of operating the store. People who are willing to donate 3-1/2 hours a week are welcome to call the Attic at 745-4215.

Marianne Schlegelmilch, manager of the Blood Bank's Mat-Su branch, said the donation would be applied to a BBA equipment fund.

"We'll hopefully put it toward a mobile unit and other equipment that's needed," Schlegelmilch said.

Portable, off-site equipment is currently on the BBA's wish list, Schlegelmilch said, and it's likely the donation could go in that direction.

Schlegelmilch said while any donations are appreciated, it's always an added bonus if the donations come from those in the community.

"It's exciting for me, as the manager of the Mat-Su center, to know that an organization in my community like Bishop's Attic is making this donation," Schlegelmilch said.

She added that the donation will allow the local branch of the Blood Bank of Alaska will not only allow better service to 26 of the 28 hospitals supplied with blood by the blood bank across the state, it will help provide good service locally -- to Valley Hospital.

While Schlegelmilch said monetary donations are always welcome, the blood bank, still restocking its shelves after some blood type stocks fell to a critical level last week, is always in need of another type of donation.

"As much as donations of this type are appreciated, blood donations are critically needed," Schlegelmilch said. "Changes in regulations that are ongoing are severely limiting our pool of donors not only here, but across the country. We need to maintain and recruit new blood donors … so we can continue to meet the needs of Alaska."

For more information about donating blood, contact the Mat-Su branch at 376-1195. The center is located at the Lakeview Professional Building in Wasilla, across from McDonald's. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for donations on Tuesdays, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. The center operates out of the Palmer depot building on two Mondays each month. Call the office to book an appointment in Palmer or Wasilla or to find out about hosting a blood drive. Centers are also located in Anchorage and Soldotna.