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You never know what ‘bargains’ you find at Couleecap boutique

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Jann Sturmer is the new coordinator at the Couleecap Bargain Boutique and Food Pantry. She’s excited about sharing with the public the necessities and valuable buys they can find at the thrift store, all for the benefit of the local food pantry. (Photo by Correne Martin)

By Correne Martin

The Couleecap Bargain Boutique is one of the most bustling businesses in downtown Prairie du Chien. Household decor, clothing, accessories, books, children’s items, kitchen necessities and electronics, among other treasures, are in clean used—yet reusable—condition.

Merchandise is sold to sustain the Couleecap Food Pantry, which is housed in a back room at the store and provides Crawford County’s low-income families, once a month, with about two days worth of food. It is stocked by a food truck, which delivers monthly, but mostly by donations from the public.

In addition to three paid employees, an army of about 30 volunteers, who help varying hours throughout the month, make up the workforce. Additional volunteers are needed.

Jann Sturmer, of Eastman, is the new Bargain Boutique coordinator. She started Jan. 3 and took over for Peg Gallagher, who gave 23 years of dedicated service to the Couleecap organization. Sturmer and two others, Karen Redman and Anne Saxer, are the staff accompanied daily by volunteers of all ages, from Workforce Connections, Experience Works, the Opportunity Center, community service programs, schools and the general public. Some are reimbursed by their organization, some are required to be there and others simply wish to give of their time.

“What’s neat about it is there’s a niche for everyone who volunteers,” Sturmer said. “We have one woman who sorts and prices clothes. One guy only works on electronics; he tests them all before we sell them. We have people who just work with greeting cards or books, organize them and circulate them. We also have people who only like to work at the cash register or on the floor.”

Furthermore, there are volunteers who fold grocery bags, sort socks and package hangers. There’s another woman who likes to design windows and is the only person who takes care of that task.

Anything that is gently-used and clean is accepted at the boutique; torn, stained and soiled items are not.

“We don’t take TVs that are older than 10 years. No computers, mattresses or baby items, like car seats or old cribs, are accepted. We also don’t take large appliances because we don’t have the space,” Sturmer pointed out.

Recycling is an important aspect of what happens at the store too. Jeans that are not saleable are given to the inmates at the local correctional facility to make bags for veterans and social services needs. Tattered bedding is given to the animal shelter. T-shirts and other clothes are combined into rag bags and sold for a couple dollars per bag. Other defective wares are picked up by a local church.

“I recently learned that Nike grinds up old shoes to use as playground material, so I’m going to look into accessing that as well,” Sturmer said.

All contributions—even toys, books, pots and pans—can be written off as a tax donation; there are forms available at the Bargain Boutique. Of course, cash donations are always welcome too.

For the food pantry, any and all food donations except for homemade goods, like preserves, pickles, breads, etc., are accepted. Income eligibility is on an “honesty basis,” according to Sturmer.

“Anybody’s allowed to come get food. They only have to prove they’re a Crawford County resident,” she said. “They can come once a month; the intention is for this to be supplementary to programs such as FoodShare or WIC (Women, Infants and Children nutrition program). It’s based on the number of people in a household.”

Sturmer said it’s pretty heartening seeing the amount of area residents who utilize the food pantry.

Over the past month, while becoming acquainted, Sturmer fell right into her new duties with ease. She had worked at a thrift store, done community volunteering and owned a business prior to this. She loves working with people.

“I wasn’t as familiar with the broad spectrum of services provided here though,” she noted, mentioning housing, homeownership, transportation and fuel assistance for low-income individuals. “I don’t think the community realizes the services Couleecap provides either. That’s one of my goals, to increase public knowledge because, I think, if the demand came up, the availability of services in Crawford County would too.”

Sturmer noted that the Bargain Boutique is available to help in emergency situations. For example, if a family had a home fire, they could get clothing and food supplied for every family member.

“It’s a great organization,” Sturmer said. “Peggy did a fantastic job. The only thing I can do is try to streamline it.”

Sturmer started a clearance section of products that have been shelved for too long. She also hopes to increase the amount of clothing, toys and necessities available in the children’s section of the store.

Two weeks ago, Sturmer created a Facebook page for the Couleecap Bargain Boutique and Food Pantry. Since then, over 110 people have liked it. On the page, she is actively recruiting volunteers, advertising the food pantry and sharing pictures of the valuables people can find inside the store.

“You never know what’s going to come in the door. I’m excited about getting people to shop and see all the great things we have,” Sturmer said. “We have people who come in every day on their lunch break, looking for treasures. Last week, we had a person who was recently divorced who had to stock up on everything for a new household. So we have those people who really need this store too.”

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