One of Kimball’s old downtown buildings will soon be filled with not necessarily old items.

Bushnell’s Abundant Grace Free Store is planning a move to  Kimball in the next few months. It will fill the old Weather Wise building at the corner of Chestnut and Highway 30.

Verne Hackbarth who volunteers at the store, explains that the move will allow the facility to serve a larger number of residents. The organization also expects more volunteers and more donations.

Abundant Grace Free Store operates on an altruistic business model. The organization seeks clothing and household items to stock. They in turn provide these items at no cost to anyone in need.

When a customer first comes into the facility he or she fills out an application for membership. This information is necessary in order for the store to qualify for grant money to help run the store.

Although the operation is on an all volunteer basis, they must pay for electricity, heating and the like.

The idea has proven to be quite successful. In Abundant Grace’s short time in Bushnell they claim to have helped between 400-500 people. The customer base includes Cheyenne, Scottsbluff, Sidney, Northern Colorado and Eastern Wyoming, as well as Kimball County.

The store also provides Kimball’s local chapter of DOVES with items for their client families.

“I think this is the only free store in the area,” said Cindy Grover, the facility’s director.

In addition to benefitting from Kimball’s larger population, Abundant Grace’s decision to move east came because of its success.

Locals found the idea so appealing that donations quickly overwhelmed their Bushnell location’s capacity.

Kimball’s vacant Weather Wise building will give them 10,000 square feet of retail and storage.

Grover states that there needs to be some mending completed on the roof of the new structure and that her husband is working on the plumbing.  She requests that anyone who might have some skills with plumbing volunteer their time to the project.

Grover is also looking for volunteers to help sort clothing, put racks together, organize items and clean the interior.

“We moved quickly and will need help getting everything ready to open,” she explained.