BOWMANVILLE -- Opened to help others who need a hand, Second Chance clothing store is now getting a big boost from those who want to see it succeed.
Second Chance was destroyed in a downtown Bowmanville fire in April. The store provides revenue for Bethesda House, an organization that provides shelter, counseling and other services to women and youth who are victims of domestic violence.
With its downtown location in ruins the business has been relocated to a leased unit at 68 King St. E.
"The rental space was empty and needed some work," said Jaki MacKinnon, executive director of Bethesda House.
Graduates of the Ontario Self Employment Benefit Program have helped get the work done, Ms. MacKinnon said. The program is a chance for those unemployed to start their own businesses. The most recent graduates of the program finished in July.
Lurlene Anderson is one of the program's graduates. She said the group decided it would like to give back to the community after completing their course.
The group started work with Bethesda House in July, Ms. Anderson said. They did whatever they could to help out, she said.
"We painted, did home-staging, organizing, washed windows and walls, unpacked items," Ms. Anderson said.
The experience was an awesome one, she said.
"We worked with a great group of people. It was a really rewarding experience."
The group enjoyed the volunteer work so much, it will be organizing a fundraising event for Bethesda House in the fall.
Thanks in part to the volunteer work by the group, the store will open Aug. 15.
Right now the focus for Bethesda House is getting the word out that there is a new locale for Second Chance. Ms. MacKinnon said they don't expect the original location to be finished until next summer. Until then she said she hopes the community will come out to the temporary venue.
Owners of the following new businesses participated in the volunteer work: Accolades Events, Benjamin's Quality Painting, Biz Man Solutions, Center Staged, Cup of Tea, Destiny Business Solutions, DI4Y, Gouldburn Painting, Grade Diggers Excavation, Graffiti B Gone, Junk-it Wisely, JV Travel, Kathy Bradford Training Solutions, Organize Your World, Wilmot Property Service and ZZ Tees.
Local businesses that made contributions to the project include Bowmanville Fabric, Kwik Signs and Rona.
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