ICANstruction Junction donates teddy bears to Sheriff’s Office, responds to economy in new furniture focus
ICANstruction Junction representatives recently made a donation that will help brighten the day of many young trauma victims, in the form of dozens upon dozens of stuffed animals.
Island Coast AIDS Network, Inc., operates the local home improvement thrift store in North Fort Myers’ United Plaza. The store accepts donations and turns them into cash to help those in the surrounding area with HIV and AIDS.
But when a special private donation came in, store manager Vince Marcucci saw the seven cases of teddy bears as having another purpose than just a sale.
“We recently received the stuffed animals from private individuals and thought this would be an ideal chance to do something for the kids,” said Marcucci.
Stuffed animals are routinely given by responding deputies and victim’s advocates to children suffering in crisis situations such as traffic accidents, sexual assaults or domestic violence. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said the stuffed animals would be an extremely helpful tool for law enforcement in the community – and more importantly, for the children.
“They calm the child. This can be in a situation when we respond when maybe mommy and daddy aren’t getting along, and traffic crashes are another frequent scenario when they are used. It helps pacifies the child.”
ICAN sales associate Adam Roark made the teddy bear delivery to Lee County Sheriff’s Office Headquarters, with Deputy Angelo Vaughn receiving the donation.
New furniture focus
supplements sales in economy
The ICANstruction Junction shop has 5,300 square feet of Do-It-Yourself fix-it goods and furniture that sold at a fraction of the price. Items come from donations, but Marcucci said the types of donations they are receiving in this economy have changed.
While they are receiving construction materials from generous donors, those types of donations are down along with the construction industry.
“We are now getting and selling a lot of furniture,” he said. “We just received a $45,000 donation of desk modules – all brand new material we are selling at a fraction of the cost.”
All donations of furniture, home items and construction materials are welcome, he said. “Call us and we’ll pick them up.”
The store is at 13971 North Cleveland Ave. in United Plaza. The phone number is 997-4226.