THE STAR
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Wednesday, August 6, 2014 H
PAGE 5
BACK-TO-SCHOOL
TAX FREE WEEKEND SPECIAL Glenn Gaskin, Director of Member Services and Community Liaison for the Fort Bend YMCA coordinated the donates of backpacks, with school supplies inside, for local elementary schools. Gaskin said the local YMCA hopes to donate a total of 350 backpacks as a part of a YMCA of Greater Houston program called Operation Backpack. Some of the donations came from local YMCA members, while others were contributed by large retailers such as H-E-B, Wal-Mart and Target. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)
Sugar Land resident Dixi Martinez, left, chats with Rosenberg resident Jesse Liendro, left, and Richmond resident PennyWise Resale Center assistant manager Karina Gloria Nombran shopped at the PennyWise Resale Center in Martinez on Monday. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter) Richmond on Monday. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)
PennyWise director Joy Dowell, right, and volunteer manager Liz Moreno have several exciting events coming up at the PennyWise Resale Center. (Photo by Michael Sudhalter)
PennyWise Resale Center plans several special events this fall By Michael Sudhalter msudhalter@ fortbendstar.com
Last year, the three PennyWise Resale Centers in Fort Bend County generated enough revenue to donate $350,000 to Fort Bend Women’s Center outreach programs. The Fort Bend Women’s Center, which serves victims of domestic violence
and sexual assault, is dedicated to helping women and children live violence-free lives. Through generous donations, fundraising events and grants, PennyWise is able to provide victims and their children with vouchers to buy clothes and other essential items, because they often arrive with little more than the clothes they’re wearing.
All of the items in the store arrived via donations, and the main need for donations now is houseware. Tax free weekend will be Friday through Sunday, and parents will have the opportunity to buy backpacks and school supplies for their children. But that’s just the beginning of an event-filled fall, said PennyWise director Joy Dowell.
PennyWise’s newest location opened in May at 501 Highway 90A East in Richmond – across the highway from its previous location. There are two other locations – 13645 Murphy Rd. in Stafford and 6808 Hwy. 6 South at Bellaire Blvd. in Mission Bend – and a donation only center at Dulles and Hwy. 6 in Missouri City. Dowell, a Sugar Land
resident who previously ran a popular store called Annabelle’s in Sugar Land, is starting a new website associated with PennyWise on Sept. 1. It will be thriftingfashionista.com. Dowell’s also starting a Junior Fashionista Board to encourage 16-to-21 year old women who “have a love of fashion, would like to earn service hours, gain retail ex-
perience and be in fashion shows.” to get involved. The inaugural Junior Fashionista Fashion Show will take place from 2 to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the Richmond store. Dowell said PennyWise will host a Christmas Flea Market from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 9 and have crafting workshops once per month.