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Photo by Hank Lohmeyer Visitors to the Shelter Shoppe this season can take a stroll down Christmas Village Main Street while browsing the blouses and sweaters.Volunteers at the Shelter Shoppe in Cedaredge have gone all out this season creating an inviting holiday atmosphere at their store, and in the process they have produced a professional, holiday merchandising display.
Just stepping into the store on North Grand Mesa Drive is enough to transport anyone instantly into the holiday spirit.
Store manager Lynne Sorlye gives all credit for the delightful Christmas merchandising effort at the store to the dedicated volunteers who, just before Thanksgiving, brought out all the decorations and went to work.
In addition to the holiday decorations, volunteers from the Shelter Shoppe and the Friends of Cedaredge Animal Control (FCAC) have created a display that features their own handmade crafts in a special Holiday Boutique that will be on display until Christmas.
The Shoppe is dressed up like Santa's Workshop, and every corner seems to catch the spirit of a Christmas out of memory's past, where home and family and happiness were all around and seemed certain to remain forever.
The Shelter Shoppe, a former residence, provides the chance for volunteers to build creative displays for items for the kitchen, bath, and other rooms of anyone's home.
The Shelter Shoppe opened its doors in the spring of 2010 and has established a steady track record of having good quality, clean clothing, housewares, kitchen gadgets, linens, and many other useful items.
The Shelter Shoppe opened when the town government had decided to end its financial support for the FCAC's no-kill shelter. The Shelter Shoppe corps of dedicated volunteers stepped up to fill the need, and the enterprise has been providing essential funding for FCAC ever since.
Photo by Hank Lohmeyer Selecting a warm shirt is like a visit to Santa’s Workshop at the Shelter Shoppe’s holiday merchandising display.The volunteers are completely dedicated to their work, Sorlye explains. "There are 20 to 30 volunteers who give of their time to work at the shop. They have really taken complete ownership of the enterprise," Sorlye said. "They open and close the store. They sort all of the donations that come in, evaluating the best of the best for inclusion in the store's inventory."
And it isn't just the animal-loving volunteers who keep the Shelter Shoppe going "The people of this community are very generous with the many high-quality donations they make to the store, Sorlye added.
When people come to the Shelter Shoppe, they know they are helping support a worthy community cause – FCAC no-kill shelter. Without the Shelter Shoppe, the FCAC shelter would be much less effective, and maybe completely unable to carry out its humanitarian mission.
Sorlye provided the following information about the FCAC mission and organization.
FCAC was founded in 2001 and received IRS 501(c)3 status in April 2003. The FCAC mission is the continuation of the Cedaredge Animal Shelter as a no-kill (adoption guaranteed) shelter for cats and dogs. The Shelter was built through fund raising by FCAC on land provided by the Town of Cedaredge. There are seven indoor dog runs and kennels for about 30 cats.
FCAC is run by an 11-member board. Three of those board members are assigned to the Shelter Shoppe board. The FCAC board meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 12:30 p.m. in the Cedaredge Library meeting room. Meetings are open to the public. Please call Deb Fairchild, 210-0482, or Jacki Dapkus, 640-4907, to see if there is a subject you would like on the agenda and to see if a meeting has been cancelled or changed. The FCAC board makes decisions on how the Shelter is run and money is spent. The web site is www.surfacecreekshel
ter.org. Animals are advertised on petfinder.com and
adoptapet.com. It has adoption sites at PetSmart in Grand Junction, and PetCo in Montrose and Glenwood Springs.
The Shelter Shoppe was opened in March 2010 and is the primary funding source for the Shelter. Without the Shoppe, the Shelter would close. The Shoppe is run by the manager with guidance from the Shoppe board. Meetings are monthly prior to FCAC board meetings.
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