We're still here!

The Waseca Area Neighborhood Service Center (WANSC) and Waseca Area Food Shelf are open for their usual activities and happy to assist customers and donors.

 

“Access can be a little complicated,” admits organization executive director Cindy Kolander, “so we are adjusting to circumstances day by day.”

 

Beginning Aug. 21, construction is underway on Second Street Northwest and will continue well into the fall. Fencing and safety precautions allow entry to the dual-purpose building located at 203 Third Avenue Northwest only from the south–and only from the parking lot located behind the Waseca County News building along Second Street.

 

Kolander explains donors and customers visiting the food shelf are now asked to come and go through the “delivery” door, a double-wide doorway on the south face of the building which now sports a sign identifying it as the entry.

 

Nearby, an arrow labeled “Store” shows how to access the thrift store sales area–namely by walking around the building to the usual store entrance.

 

Normal traffic flow at the building allowed customers to park only a few carlengths from the entry, but they now must walk much further, depending on where they were able to find a parking space. “Many of these customers are senior citizens who have trouble walking,” Kolander observes. “They may find a few hundred feet is further than they care to navigate to our thrift store entrance.”

 

As construction continues, the WANSC has been informed even the sidewalk along Second Street will be removed, which will call for further creativity in managing traffic flow into and inside the thrift store, whose checkout lanes are near the north entry.

 

“We have already seen about a 50-percent drop in shoppers and donations in the store,” Kolander revealed, saying this leads to numerous difficulties. First, the dramatic decline will make it difficult to meet everyday expenses, since thrift store sales income is applied to basic business expenses such as insurance, utilities and staff payroll.

 

Second, even once normal access patterns are restored, it means the store will have less inventory on its sales floor. Prior to construction, Kolander says, the store typically received donations from about 20 households a day. Since Aug. 21, that number is between five and seven.

 

“Most importantly,” Kolander emphasizes, “we want people to know we are still open during this construction and we are here for them, ready to serve.” 

 

Next, she wants people to know the designated driving path to the food shelf and store leads along Fourth Street Northwest between Sacred Heart Church and Sacred Heart Elementary school, then east along Second Avenue Northwest to the parking lot behind the County News building. Orange traffic signs using the abbreviation WANSC point the way.