ESCANABA — The Escanaba St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) is inviting the community to an open house of the recycling center and warehouse facility, including the Care-Free Dental Clinic, food pantry, service center, and dining room/soup kitchen. The ope house is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 815 1st Ave. N., Escanaba. Guided tours and refreshments will be available.

Warehouse and Recycling Center Manager Cindy Bedard is excited to show the community how SVdP is using items donated to help those in need. In the tour examples of items SVdP can recycle or sell will be viewed.

“We are so very grateful for generous people, or we couldn’t do what we do,” said Bedard.

The recycling center currently operates with 13 other SVdP stores and three non-SVdP thrift stores. They take in soft textiles to recycle by sending to a third world country. The SVdP warehouse has a bailer to prepare items that have not sold. It is the only recycling center in the whole Upper Peninsula, and is used for all catholic conferences. Other SVdP Thrift Stores in the U.P. are asked to send items they cannot sell to the Escanaba warehouse.

With donations from the community SVdP has helped over 13,000 people in need from Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30.