LUCERNE — Hilltop Recovery is seeking donations from the community for a thrift shop the non-profit plans to operate in Lucerne, co-founder Lori Carter-Runyon confirmed Monday.
She and husband Ryan Runyon run Hilltop Recovery, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation center on Cobb Mountain for men who are 18 or older.
The couple discussed the partnership on Monday with Paula Fullam, who operates a thrift store and consignment shop on Highway 20 and Eleventh Street in Lucerne, and Lucerne physician Bob Gardner, who owns the property.
Dr. Gardner also sits as a member of the board of directors for the Lake County Foundation, which ran the thrift shop until May.
“The foundation pulled out of the thrift store operations a few months ago. It was too far for a lot of the board members to travel who live on the other side of the lake,” Gardner said.
Fullam said donations for the thrift shop have dwindled since then. She has operated the thrift shop virtually by herself, and encouraged members of the community to bring items in to sell on consignment, including hand-made jewelry, art, clothing, collections and household items, among other things.
Carter-Runyon said the partnership will allow men living in the recovery program to have gainful employment. In addition, proceeds from the sales of donated thrift store items will go to benefit Hilltop”s live-in recovery program.
“What money we produce from the thrift store we will use to provide a bed for a Lake County resident. It would also be an open door for all of us to get involved in the community,” Carter-Runyon said.
The treatment center serves Lake County residents who enroll themselves, people who are referred by other agencies and people who are on parole and need to be rehabilitated back into the community.
“A good percentage of our Lake County residents don”t have a lot of job skills after drinking and using, or they don”t want to go back to what they were doing and want to get into something new,” Carter-Runyon said.
Carter-Runyon said Hilltop plans to renovate the building. No opening date is scheduled yet, but donations are still needed.
Arrangements can be made for larger donations, such as furniture or appliances.
Fullam said the thrift store needs furniture and Halloween costumes. Donations should be “gently used,” Fullam said. For more information or to make a donation, call Fullam at 972-5219.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 236-5636 ext. 37.
