By Kristin Owens
It?s 10 a.m. at Deseret Industries in Provo. Dozens of shoppers wait outside trying not to push each other as employees hold the doors open for the start of another busy day at the thrift store.
However, it?s not the hectic sales floor that is drawing all the intention.
Just look behind the ?Employees Only? doors, where the huge warehouse is flooded with donations. With over-sized bins and boxes piled high overhead and the occasional squeaky toy dropped on the floor, it is a giant version of a garage before spring-cleaning.
Early fall is the busiest time of the year for Provo?s D.I., according to store manager Wade Olsen, as BYU and UVSC students move into new apartments and donate the possessions they no longer need.
?Labor Day weekend and the weekends before and after are peak donation time,? he said. ?We?re only able to sell and use so much of it, but we feel good about being able to send all the excess to centers where it?s really needed.?
As the largest D.I. store, the Provo center receives higher amounts of donations than many stores in other locations. The stores are owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and are technically considered to be bishop?s storehouses, a fact Olsen said people often forget. When more donations are received than can be used, the excess is distributed to other centers as well as the LDS Church Humanitarian Center.
Many BYU students use the thrift stores both to make good use of their unwanted items as well as a place to find inexpensive apartment necessities.
?This is only my second time shopping at D.I.,? said BYU sophomore Joseph Hopkin as he perused the shelves for an iron and ironing board. ?But I?ve donated a ton of stuff. Back home my family always gives stuff to D.I. I pretty much donate anything of value ? clothes, records, old furniture, electronics.?
Besides serving as a community thrift store and a resource for both bishops and non-LDS charity organizations to receive free goods, the Deseret Industries Centers have a mission to help people help themselves.
Most of the workers sorting through piles of donations and helping customers on the floor are ?trainees? rather than paid employees. They are unemployed or underemployed people who get approved by their bishops to work at D.I., where they receive whatever training they need to meet their employment goals.
Joseph Harward is a 24-year-old UVSC student originally from the Philippines. While studying culinary arts in school, he works at D.I. to receive the training he needs to become a floor supervisor.
?Right now my job is to keep people happy and help them out if they have questions,? he said. ?Soon I?ll be a supervisor and have a lot more responsibility to know all about the store and get people whatever they need. I do a lot of running around.?
Olsen emphasized that more than just collecting and selling used items, the center?s true purpose is to help people become self-reliant.
?If the impression you get here is ?stuff,? you?re missing the point,? he said, ?D.I. is about the person working in men?s shoes who hasn?t held a job in 10 years, and now he?s working, he?s self-reliant, he has more self-esteem.?
The store welcomes donations of anything that has value and is usable. Olsen said if one would feel comfortable passing an item along to a brother or sister, it?s a good donation.
