Good Shepherd store needs IRS non-profit OK

The Good Shepherd organization is awaiting approval from the Internal Revenue Service before it can open a thrift store inside a vacant building on Crawford Street.

Within about a month the IRS will likely grant the 501 C-3 non-profit organizational status, said Good Shepherd's administrator Mahlon Stucky. As a result, the organization's status will be classified as tax exempt.

"They've (IRS) got our file and are working on it," he said.

Getting the tax exempt status has delayed the opening of the store. The store was originally slated to open in June, when the IRS was supposed to approve the organization. Stucky is shooting for a grand opening in November, at the latest.

The thrift store will be located at the old IGA grocery store at 301 S. Crawford St. It will offer clothing and home appliances. Vouchers will be distributed for needy families, Stucky said.

Numerous individual donors have pledged money and clothing to get the store going, he said.

Extensive remodeling needs to be completed before the store opens. The front windows and doors have been damaged by vandals and need to be replaced. The roof leaks and must be fixed. The interior needs to be cleaned as well.

However, they can't start renovating until the IRS approves their tax exempt status and they close on the building, which has not happened yet. Stucky said the organization has not signed a contract with the current owner to buy the building because of their pending tax status.

"This is going to happen," he said. "We have too much invested for it not to."

The area has been without a thrift store since the Salvation Army store closed two years ago. Around that time, Stucky, who is also pastor at First Southern Baptist church, decided to research the possibility of starting an organization that would bring a thrift store to Fort Scott.

Good Shepherd is a local, non profit Christian charity group. It's run by a five-member board or directors. He said all proceeds are pumped back into Fort Scott.

"This organization is owned by the community of Fort Scott," Stucky said.

Although the initial goal for organizers is to get the store open, they plan to start a shelter for battered women and broken families. Stucky said domestic battery is a problem in the area and needs to be addressed.

"Good Shepherd intends to open a shelter or two here, but the main thing is that we have to get the thrift store up and operational and producing the income required to run the shelter," Stucky said.

Also, organizers are wanting to open a drug rehabilitation center in the near future to combat the narcotics problem facing the community.