It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the Taree Lifeline Shop, but a pleasant surprise awaited the volunteers as they emerged from lockdown this time.
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After the store was damaged in the March 2021 floods with water knee-deep, it was reopened to the public earlier this month, only to close again soon after due to the stay-at-home orders.
"We were open maybe a month before we went into lockdown - it was devastating for the volunteers," retail coordinator Jemma McDonald said.
With a shop full of goods and safety measures in place, the team at Taree Lifeline opened the doors on Tuesday, September 14 to the public.
"Our volunteers are very sociable and love what they do, so we wanted to get them back in as soon as we could," Jemma said.
The team at Taree Lifeline said they have previously struggled to manage the dumping of donations while they have been closed.
This time around however, they were impressed with the way the community handled donations while the stay-at-home orders remained in place.
"We didn't get dumped on like we did last time so we are very thankful to those who waited to drop their donations in when we opened," Jemma said.
The team at Taree Lifeline are looking for more volunteers and advise anyone who is interested to pop into their store on Albert Street for more information.
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