Cheers to everyone willing to donate items to the Adventist Community Services outreach store.
The Adventist store is hidden away at 514 Summit Ave. in Detroit Lakes, across Highway 10 in the general vicinity of the ACS retail store.
The volunteers there (from both the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the community at large) have done great work for years, sorting through donated clothes, shoes, household and kitchen goods, books and toys, and displaying them for sale in the shop at very reasonable prices.
But community needs just seems to grow and grow, and donations of good-quality items are greatly needed.
The store also accepts cash donations. It does not accept appliances or furniture, but if you have good furniture to donate, volunteers there may be able to connect you with someone who needs what you have.
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The volunteers prepare kits for home fire victims in the Detroit Lakes area, and donated goods and cash to help Red River Valley flood victims in 1997. They have also helped hurricane victims in the South.
Virtually everything donated is used in some way, and remaining funds go to a number of worthy charities, including the local food shelf, Hospice, American Cancer Society, Salvation Army, the sheriff's department's drug abuse prevention program, Habitat for Humanity, the Shriners (for circus tickets), and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, to name a few.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday or by appointment. The phone number is 218-847-0067.
If you have serviceable, clean items to donate, consider this organization. They do good work.
The Boys and Girls Club Thrift Store in the former Ben Franklin building in downtown Detroit Lakes is also in need of donations, since it has had to rebuild inventory lost in an industrial park warehouse fire over the winter.
The thrift store is asking for patience during the courthouse addition project. It was set up to receive donations through the back alley, but construction has made that difficult. All help is appreciated.
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Jeers to Minnesota politicians-turned-lobbyists.
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According to The Business Journal of Fargo-Moorhead, Minnesota has 50 former lawmakers registered to lobby their one-time colleagues -- tied with Illinois for third highest in the nation.
(The top state was Texas, with 70 lawmakers-turned-lobbyist, followed by Florida with 60).
Some of the most influential lobbyists, according to the Center for Public Integrity, were the spouses and other relatives of legislators.
Unlike many states, Minnesota does not have a "revolving door law" requiring legislators to wait a period of time, usually a year or two, before becoming a lobbyist. Minnesota also received a national rank of 20th and a letter grade of "D" on its lobbyist disclosure requirements, based on registration, spending reports, public access and enforcement regulations.
Unlike Florida, Texas and Illinois -- the other states with the most lawmakers-turned-lobbyist -- Minnesota has always had a reputation for clean government.
A few common-sense changes in this area will help keep it that way.
