REPORTER
Mercer Island www.mi-reporter.com
MI | THIS WEEK
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 | 75¢
7 tons of goods donated daily to thrift store
Friday night lights has Hawaiian flavor at the ‘Jungle’ Friday’s home football game will feature a Hawaiian theme. The game, which begins at 7 p.m. against Bellevue, will include Dave’s BBQ starting at 6 p.m. The first 200 fans will get Hawaiian leis, and two Sahara Super Fans will earn free pizza coupons from Sahara Pizza.
Water use has fallen across the region, costs are fixed, discounts set to expire at year’s end
Firefighter pancake breakfast for breast cancer awareness Mercer Island Firefighters Union Local 1762 is hosting a pancake breakfast at Station 91, 3030 78th Ave S.E., from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 1, with a suggested donation of $5. The Mercer Island Firefighters Union is partnering up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation this year for breast cancer awareness. Their campaign is called “Passionately Pink for the Cure.” Firefighters unions all over the United States are participating. “IAFF passed a resolution in 2010 to make this one of their causes in October since it’s breast cancer awareness month,” said Ray Austin, representing the Mercer Island IAFF. Island firefighters are wearing pink ribbon lapel pins behind the IAFF symbol. The firefighters will be selling Mercer Island Firefighter T-shirts for $20, available in pink and white. All proceeds from the event and T-shirt sales will benefit the Komen Foundation. Community members can also donate directly through the department’s fundraising web page: www.info-komen. org/goto/Mercer or by cash or check by mailing donations to Mercer Island Firefighters, P.O. Box 1114, Mercer Island, Wash., 98040.
Water bills will jump in 2012 By Mary L. Grady editor@mi-reporter.com
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
Customers at the Island YFS thrift store look over shoes on the second floor of the store last week. City staff and volunteers have worked to update the shop, where sales reached over $800,000 last year.
YFS thrift store is ‘gold mine’ for city By Linda Ball lball@mi-reporter.com
If you haven’t visited the Youth and Family Services Thrift Store lately, you will notice some changes, particularly upstairs. “We’re trying to look more like a boutique with thrift store prices,” said Logan Ens, the store’s assistant coordinator. The store is also seeking another full-time staff person. Right now there are three full-time employees; Ens, coordinator Suzanne Philen, and Don Rupp, the merchandising representative. All three are city employees with Youth and Family Services. The new position, production coordinator, will primarily be in charge of intake, or new donations,
of which the thrift store receives an astonishing average of seven tons a day. The production coordinator will also track average price points. Ens said usually only two people are available to sort through all of the intake. Some of it has to be recycled and some items are garbage, but most of what they take in are really nice, gently used items. The store also maintains 15 to 20 work study students, paid by YFS; YFS is then reimbursed 60 percent by various state and federal programs for those workers. But now, with school back in session, the store has fewer of those employees. The city’s finance director, Chip Corder, said the Thrift Store is a “little gold mine.” “We’re overwhelmed — they
PENG & WEBER
have more stuff than they can handle,” Corder said. Corder also mentioned the loss of volunteers, including senior citizens ‘who just can’t do it anymore’. He also said they need more square footage, but expansion costs money. “Sometimes, you have to spend money to make money,” he said. “There’s an opportunity to make money here. Since the recession, the store has really taken off.” Ens said with more donations coming in, they have to be creative in what they display. “If we have 20 items come in, and five of them are $30 items, we’ll display those before the $10 items,” Ens said. Corder said the city’s general fund has typically subsidized YFS $465,000 per year. Going forward, starting with 2011, that subsidy has been reduced to $320,000. Corder said the store is exceeding its expectations, making $727,000 in 2009, $825,000 in 2010, and
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has told its wholesale customers, including Mercer Island and several other larger users, to expect a 34.7 percent increase in the price of water it purchases for its residents and businesses in 2012. The City of Mercer Island is in the process of determining what Island homeowners and businesses will pay in the form of higher rates to offset that increase. If that entire amount were passed through to Island customers, city staff estimate that Island homes and businesses could pay an estimated 12 to 14 percent
WATER | PAGE 2
The Mercer Island High School football team advanced to a 3-1 record last Friday. See Sports on page 14 for details.
THRIFT STORE | PAGE 3
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