Appalachian Outreach Inc. board members, staff, and other members of the community gathered on Tuesday for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at its new location at 3900 Wood St., Wheeling. (Photo by Emma Delk)

Board members and staff at the Appalachian Outreach Inc. are thrilled to combine their warehouse and thrift store, Hidden Treasures, into a single building in the organization’s new home at 3900 Wood St. in South Wheeling.

AOI serves the counties of Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel, gathering and providing donated goods for those experiencing poverty or in need of disaster relief. Just as the nonprofit organization relies on the community for daily operations, the orchestration of the move of AOI occurred through dedication and charity from all over Wheeling.

The move began when Debbie Michaels, treasurer of AOI, contacted Wheeling Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum. She gave the nonprofit some names who could possibly provide them with a new location. One of these names was Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration owner Bob Contraguerro, who had a building available to rent.

“Panhandle used this building for storage, but they liked our mission,” said Michaels at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday. “It was Rosemary who got us here and Bob was very receiving of it.”

Ketchum was thrilled to help out AOI, not only as a council member, but as an avid thrift shopper who loved visiting their former location. Ketchum described the new location as “a match made in heaven,” not only due to the building’s great space that could accommodate all of the organization’s donations, but also because of the large parking area.

Angie Scherich, assistant manager at the store, was excited that daily operations could now be much more efficient due to the larger space that allowed AOI to combine its warehouse and thrift shop into one building. At their old store, a warehouse that held larger items was in a separate building from the thrift shop, so staff often had to travel between the two buildings.

The new location will not only operate more efficiently by eliminating this two-store system, but also can serve a wider variety of customers. Scherich explained that those who are disabled do not have to worry about steps or navigating through small spaces.

“At the old place we hardly had room for wheelchairs to get in,” added Scheric. “But here I have a garage door I can open for anyone to come right in. It’s a lot easier for everyone.”

Rose Hart, one of the founders of AOI, expressed her happiness at seeing the organization blossom further since her retirement a year ago. Operations for the nonprofit began out of Hart’s mother’s garage, and since then, AOI has always been searching for more efficient locations for their operations.

“This is the best location Appalachian Outreach has ever had,” said Hart. “It’s spacious, it’s all flat on one floor of the building, and has heating and air conditioning.”

Hart described AOI as often running on “a hope and prayer” and was thrilled that the community was able to come together to help the organization expand further.