By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
All too often those in our region experience a shortage of basic needs. It’s something local woman Sandy Ratcliff said she first noticed while working as a ‘substitute everything’ for the school in Hitchins, where she originally saw the needs of school children. Later she took a position as the director of the senior citizen center in Grayson, and while there she saw the needs experienced by seniors in the area. She remembered the needs of both of those at-risk groups when she began buying abandoned storage building lots.
“I was giving the stuff away,” Ratcliff said.
There were items in those storage buildings that were still usable, she said, so she wasn’t about to throw it away. This led to her renting her own storage building in order to store the salvaged goods until she could give it to those in need. Then that storage building grew to five storage buildings, all of which she was paying for monthly.
It was during this time that Ratcliff also retired from working in the public, so that she could take care of her ailing mother. After her mother passed away, she decided that she needed to do something to remedy the needs she had seen with children and older adults. Fortunately for her, a good rental opportunity presented itself and she was finally able to do something she had always wanted to do; something that would allow her to both help those in need and eliminate some of her storage bill.
This was the beginning of her business, Burlap Blessings and More, located on Route 1, just past East Carter High School.
“I started posting that we would have a thrift store/outreach,” Ratcliff said.
She had originally wanted to just do an outreach, she said, but the hurdles necessary to form a nonprofit were more than she was prepared for at the time.
“So, I just pay the monthly taxes, and that takes care of it,” she said.
Ratcliff’s merchandise pricing, however, is geared toward those who are unable to afford much. She regularly has 25 cent sales, because she said she wants people to have nice things, and a lot of people won’t accept anything they might perceive as a handout.
“So, if they are paying a quarter, fifty cents, or a dollar, that makes them happy,” she said.
When she started the business, Ratcliff said the main goal was to help individuals whose houses had burned, grandparents who by necessity were raising their grandchildren, young people in the foster care system, people who are recovering from addiction, and other individuals sent to her from other organizations. Those individuals can get what they need for free, she said. Ratcliff said she regularly works with Bridges Resource Center, social workers, and local schools and sometimes trade resources as needed.
“As long as I make the rent here, I could care less about the money,” Ratcliff said. “I enjoy doing this, and I just want to give back to the community.”
Ratcliff said that between donations and her storage buildings, she offers “anything and everything” at Burlap Blessings and More.
“And if I don’t have it, I can probably find it,” she added.
Currently Ratcliff said her hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 3 pm, and that after the car show season ends, she plans to add Saturday hours. She can be reached on her cellphone at 606-316-4977, or on her Facebook page, Burlap Blessings and More.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
