New Deseret Industries store hopes to continue helping the community
The new Deseret Industries in Ammon will open next week with a big 3-day grand opening. The thrift store offers vocational training for their employees to help pave out their career paths.
“The whole reason why facilities exist are to provide a training experience for people in the community,” Brooke Yates, the Marketing Manager, Deseret Industries, said. “Our employees that come here go through our training program, they’re able to receive a wage while they work here and we also pay for their education.”
That’s exactly what Sandra Riberio took advantage of when she chose to work with DI.
“I had this goal to be a real estate here in the United States. Build my resume and the lady said ‘why don’t you apply to DI?’ And this is why I came to DI,” said Riberio, who currently works as a cashier.
Riberio moved from Brazil with her 3 girls, and has been with the store for a little more than a year.
“I came, and I have this huge support because I had the language barrier, I had the huge gap out of work force,” she explained. “I [have] never worked in the United States ever so DI was my big opportunity. My first step toward my goals.”
Not only supporting and employing her, but DI stuck with their word and helped pay for Riberio’s real estate classes. Which she just passed.
“You know, taking tests in another language was hard and I failed a couple times. [It] wasn’t easy like that,” Riberio said. “All the time that I came to DI, I had people cheering me up. Saying you can do it, you know you are amazing. I felt [that] I was, because I am, you know? People [believed] in me, and I believe it in me.”
Riberio is just one of many examples of how Deseret Industries has helped people within the community. With this new location, they hope to assist more.
The new thrift store opens Thursday, March 22nd with a 3-day grand opening celebration through the 24th. They will hold a ribbon cutting with city leaders, music, a balloon artist and lots of giveaways.
Take a sneak peek with Tristan Lewis here:
Deseret Industries has been in Idaho Falls since 1974, and have been employing and training hundreds of community residents over the four decades.
The new Ammon store includes a multi-lane, covered drive-thru donation bay, providing an enhanced donation experience. Donations are received daily, except on Sundays, and all donations are tax-deductible. Items not sold in the store may be used for humanitarian relief or recycled.
The Ammon store offers extended operating hours, opening daily at 10 a.m. and closing Mondays at 6 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays at 9 p.m. The store is closed Sundays. The donation bay opens daily at 8 a.m., also closing Mondays at 6 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays at 9 p.m. It is closed Sundays.
