Local nonprofit resale store closes its doors
CARBONDALE, Ill. --Â Two Bugs and a Bean resale shop inside of the University Mall announced they will be closing.Â
The store is owned by the Foster Family Resource Center of ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois. The cofounder of the resource center says it's no longer in their best interest to run the store.Â
"It's not financially stable or reasonable to continue to operate in the store when it's not serving its purpose," Les O'Dell says.Â
The store helps fund the center, but now they will be using fundraisers and grants. O'Dell says he and his wife came up with the idea after they became foster parents.Â
"We had adopted three children. We had been to that point where we got the call about a new placement, and had to go spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to prepare for that child."
O'Dell says the resource center helps families with kids of all ages.Â
"I mean, you can be 18 and still be a foster child," O'Dell says. "We will do whatever we can to help them through a variety of different programs; providing supplies, making connections, doing whatever we can to help promote foster care."
O'Dell says he's sad about the store closing.
"We enjoyed interacting with parents of all kinds of families. We love watching our customers' kids grow up, and we're going to miss that."
Diane Rittenhouse is a family friend and an employee of the store. She says the store closing is bittersweet.
"We've helped a lot of people in the community," Rittenhouse says.Â
O'Dell says even with the store closing, their focus will remain on their mission.
"We will continue to provide items that families need when they get a new placement," O'Dell says. "We may not have a storefront, a retail shop, but we're still going to be serving foster families."
O'Dell says Two Bugs and a Bean will have a Big Bag Sale on Saturday, August 5th. It will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will also be ten dollars to fill up a bag.Â
Families interested in their help or who want to learn more can visit their .