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The Sheridan, Wyo., Salvation Army recently hosted an open house at their new thrift store to allow the community to tour the facility.
Construction was made possible by generous contributions from the Homer Scott Foundation and Genesis, a foundation established to provide financial support to the Sheridan Salvation Army.
Extensive preparations preceded a very successful open house. Committees were appointed for publicity, financial information, appeal posters, and set up. Personal invitations, funded by Genesis, were mailed to over 500 prior contributors. Posters were placed around Sheridan, information was placed in the local newspaper, and funds for radio ads, again funded by Genesis, were matched by the local radio station to provide additional air time. The financial information committee provided posters and brochures detailing the services and aid provided locally, nationally and internationally by The Salvation Army. The appeal poster committee provided information for prospective contributions and volunteers. The set-up folks very capably made arrangements for contributed soft drinks and cookies, pastries and hot dogs which were provided by Genesis.
During the open house, which ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., an estimated 1,000 people stopped by. Sales were 150 percent of an average day’s activity, with everything on sale at 50 percent off.
Overall, it was a successful day resulting in a lot of good publicity for the Sheridan Salvation Army.