Local store hopes to assist people with disabilities, the elderly

New thrift store Trinkets and Togs carries a variety of things including clothing items, collectables, furniture, shoes and many other items to discover. 

 

A non-profit organization, The Larrabee Center, announced their expansion to the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area with their new retail thrift store, Trinkets and Togs. 

The Larrabee Center, headquartered in Waverly, aims to assist persons with disabilities and the elderly to become or remain valued members of their community. Trinkets and Togs is owned and operated by The Larrabee Center. 

Located on 6607 University Ave., Trinkets and Togs runs by donations, and it is possible for one to find everything from various furniture, decorations, clothing and many more like-new items. 

“The revenues of Trinkets and Togs are all strictly donations, and all proceeds from the sales support services for persons with disabilities and the elderly supporting the vision and mission of the Larrabee Center,” said Lori Shepherd, retail manager. 

Other than Trinkets and Togs in Cedar Falls, which opened on Nov. 18, the Larrabee Center also provides other services for communities in order to assist the disabled and elderly. 

“We do residential services alongside thrift stores as well. There are many different aspects, employment services, in-home services, senior services,” Shepherd said. “We also have stores in Waverly and Grundy Center.”

The Larrabee Center has partnered up with different schools and organizations to help their mission. 

“Our partnership with schools and organizations help us recruit volunteers and employ, helping our employment of services of disabled persons. They came up with the plan to open stores years ago. We’ve been in business for about 30 years. It provided work opportunities for people with disabilities to learn the skills they needed to hopefully someday get a competitive job in the community,” she said. 

Senior Sheila Marquette is one of the employees of the freshly opened thrift store.

“I’ve been working there since Nov. 29. It isn’t too complicated. The people are very nice, the hours are very reasonable and they work around your schedule. I really enjoy working there because of the friendly environment, and I like their mission a lot too,” Marquette said. 

Trinkets and Togs is also very strict when it comes to receiving items they place on the hangers or shelves. 

“Everything is either brand new tagged or like-new. We even have diamonds and brand clothes for very cheap and reasonable prices. People like it a lot, especially because it is a shorter distance from their homes,” she said. 

Trinkets and Togs also cares a lot about recycling, reusing and benefiting the environment in general. 

“We are a very green store. By requesting donations, we are encouraging people to recycle, and instead of throwing clothes away, we reuse them,” Shepherd said.

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