RACINE, Wis. — The thrift shop Fosters ReStore in Racine set out on a special mission - to allow kids in the foster care program to buy clothes for free. For seven years, the company was successful. But now, that mission is coming to an end.
“It’s not generating enough revenue to the pay the bills for what we got," David Fricke, the director of the nonprofit My Foster Kid Foundation which operates the thrift store, said.
By the end of July, the store will close. It was a multitude of reasons that forced Foster's ReStore to close. There were break-ins, robberies, a warehouse fire that ruined thousands of dollars of inventory, and the overall increasing cost of goods and rent.
“There is no other alternative, and we have tried and tried and thought and prayed and it’s just nothing no other option," he said.
Fricke gave foster children $20 every month to buy and wear the clothes they wanted not the clothes donated to them or given to them by a social services employee.
"We’ve done a lot of good for the community. A lot of good for foster kids. I wish it could continue, but all in all, I think what we’ve done was a success," he said.
In the seven years of business, Fricke estimated that about 500 foster kids came into the store every month. Families would travel from all over Wisconsin.
“As far as dollar amounts, it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars that over the course of the years that we have put into the foster care system.”
This was a cause close to Fricke’s heart. He was adopted and in the system too.
"My wife and I became foster parents about 8, 9 years ago, and the kids that were coming in to care for us were coming in with little to no clothing. And any clothing they did have was ripped, torn, you know, old."
Once the store was packed with clothes, but now empty close hangers and shelves are becoming more common.
“Yea, it’s - I don’t know. Sad to see it go.”
At the time of this article, all goods are 50 percent off. With each passing week, Fricke said that he will raise the discount to 60, 70, 80, and even 90 percent. He wants to sell as much inventory as possible to pay the remaining bills he has. He will donate the rest of the clothes he doesn't sell.
But while the doors are closing, Fricke isn’t giving up on his mission.
“Figure out how we can still serve the community, still serve the foster care community and foster kids.”
The non-profit he runs with his wife, My Foster Kid Foundation, will continue to operate. It's unclear exactly what the two plan to do. However, it will be with the foster community,
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