1. Virginia Mayo
4/9/15
Holding Hands Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Holding Hands Resale Shop seeks donations for expansion
Oxford, Miss.-April 9, 2015—Holding Hands Resale Shop, located at 2618 West
Oxford Loop, is seeking monetary donations to expand its store. Holding Hands, which
opened in January of 2013, hires employees with mental illnesses, who usually have
difficulty finding a comfortable, accepting workplace elsewhere. Donna Howard opened
Holding Hands to provide a job for her daughter, who suffers from schizophrenia.
Holding Hands accepts donations of clothing and household items, particularly
larger furniture. Many of the appliances and furniture sold at Holding Hands are donated
from torn down apartment buildings or from homes of deceased Oxford residents.
Donations not needed by Holding Hands are sent to the local Disabled Veterans
program. Higher quality items, unlikely to sell at the store, are sent to threadUP, a
consignment store in California, which pays Holding Hands for donated items.
Since it opened over two years ago, Holding Hands has outgrown itself. The
shop, which is currently 1200 square feet, is packed with items, many of which go
unnoticed by its thrift-shopping customers. The store is stocked with clothes, lamps,
dressers, glassware and decorative paintings.
In order to store the much-needed large furniture donations, expanding the store is
necessary. The owner of the building has agreed to add on 3000 square feet, so long as
Howard provides the funds to do so.

2. Monetary donations can be made on the Holding Hands website,
www.holdinghandsresaleshop.org or by personal delivery and mail to the store’s location.
Holding Hands will pick up any clothing and furniture donations that require a larger
vehicle. To make an arrangement for pickup call Holding Hands Resale Shop at (662)
236-0003.
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