By Michael V. Crismali, Correspondent
HIGHTSTOWN – RISE describes itself as “A Community Service Partnership.” This was especially evident Jan. 16 at the RISE Thrift Store, 114 Rogers Ave. in Hightstown., On a day when many students were sleeping in, enjoying the third day of a long weekend, there was no shortage of helping hands at RISE Thrift Store on Martin Luther King “Day of Service.”, First was a group of eighth graders from the Church of St. Ann in Lawrenceville who were volunteering their time as part of the process for getting confirmed. Mike Knab, a parishioner at St. Ann’s, was the parent volunteer on this day, and brought the group out to help prepare the Thrift Store for business that day., In addition to the St. Ann’s group, the Peddie School’s Multicultural Alliance (MCA), led by Junior Tyrese Thomas Jr., also came out to be of service to the community. Joined by Peddie School freshmen Tamilore Odunsi, Mckenzie Guest-Hicks, Mollie Schmidtberger, Mia Huang, Tara Bogabelli, Chris Liang and Chabat Mittal, the Community Service Arm of the MCA seeks to lend its services, while also bringing awareness to issues of diversity and equality, which is particularly poignant on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day., Leslie Koppel, executive director at RISE, said that the RISE Thrift Store has always been a great place for volunteers from all walks of life to give their services. Some do it as part of an organization trying to give back, and some do it for community service purposes. Some of those volunteers end up staying as part of the team permanently, but the RISE Thrift Store will always be a place that not only gives back to the community by repurposing the revenue earned from sales back into events for the community, but also by being a place where people can fulfill other obligations while also helping the community., The Thrift Store is open for business from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and accepts donations until 6 p.m. when it is open. The phone number is 609-448-2702. For information on volunteering or donating goods, go to the RISE website at www.njrise.org.
