Local children will have the option of purchasing quality Christmas gifts for a quarter.

For the third year in a row, the Calvary United Methodist Women of Bushnell will open the Quarter Store once again this Christmas season. The purpose of the seasonal store is to provide school age children affordable, quality gifts.

Jeanne Laboray, one of the Methodist women, was quick to give credit to others in the community. Expressing her gratitude for the generosity of others, Laboray said, “We would like to honor Mike Bemis, of Bemis Drug Store, for his dedication to this project. Mike has donated store space for three years now.”

Committing to this project is more than just some time, the ladies that work so hard to put this together also donate space. According to Laboray, there is more stock this year than ever before. All those donations must be stored somewhere, so while some is stored in the churches, much is stored in the women’s homes.

Laboray said that the store itself is run voluntarily, and that a crew of men and women will soon be setting up the space and decorating it as well.

The store’s Grand Opening for the 2010 holiday season will be directly following Kimball’s annual Parade of Lights. For the first week it is open, products will be available to school aged children only. After the initial week, service will be extended to the rest of the community as well.

Laboray stated that all gifts of time, money, and items to sell are appreciated. In the past, Laboray said that gifts for dads are in short supply. She invites everyone to donate items that may be sold and she added that the funds from the store all go back into the community. Those funds are used by the United Methodist Women as needs come to their attention, she said.

The first year in operation, the store made right around $500 and was almost doubled in the second year, with a profit of $900. At a quarter for each purchase, that is quite a bit of business. Laboray expects even more this year, and is asking for volunteers to help.

“This is a really nice community project that we are all invested in,” Laboray said, “We take our help where God provides it.”

Business hours will be Monday through Friday from 3-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.