Salvation Army will accept donations of goods in top condition

Malia Spencer

Friday, Aug. 8, 2003 | 8:41 a.m.

Salvation Army officials announced they will begin taking limited goods donations beginning Monday, after a fire devastated the group's storage warehouse earlier this week.

The group is asking for donations of items that are in extremely good condition and ready for resale, Gary Zielinski, acting county coordinator for the Salvation Army, said.

"We aren't going to have refurbishing capabilities for many, many months," he said.

The nonprofit's spokesman, Charlie Desiderio, agreed. "Don't give me something that has to be fixed," he said.

With the help of a contractor hired by the group's insurance company and the work of staff and clients, the Salvation Army will be able to operate out of 10,000 square feet of its warehouse at 211 Judson Ave., near Las Vegas Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard.

The group expects to have a few thousand more square feet by the end of next week, Desiderio said.

The contractor is trying to separate the usable space from the destroyed section of the building, he said.

The Salvation Army has received aid from many other community members as well receiving $50,000 in cash donations, Zielinski said.

But he said they lost between $150,000 and $250,000 in merchandise that would have gone out to the group's nine thrift stores.

"That's a tremendous amount," Zielinski said. "That's what's going to hurt us."

He added that the stores bring in $15,000 to $20,000 per day and now they will be operating with half as much merchandise.

Desiderio said the stores usually receive at least one truckload of merchandise a day, but the last load of goods came Tuesday.

"They are running low," he said. "And that means lost revenue. That's where all the cash donations come in."

Fire officials believe the Aug. 4 fire was accidental and began in the warehouse's paint shop. The origin of the three-alarm blaze appears to be a trash can full of rags that were used to touch up furniture, North Las Vegas Assistant Fire Chief Jimmy Johnson said.

"At this point we have no reason to believe the fire was anything but accidental," he said.

In his 11 years with the Salvation Army, Zielinski said, the group has not had a loss of this magnitude. He estimates that as much as $500,000 in damage was done.

But the morale of Salvation Army employees has been good, Zielinski said.

"Everyone is really pitching in. I can't say enough about the employees, and the community has been outstanding," he said.

Zielinski is acting coordinator while Clark County Coordinator William Raihl is out of town. Zielinski has been in constant contact with Raihl, who has been assured everything will be OK when he returns in two weeks.

"We'll have it all taken care of by the time he gets back," Zielinski said.