Early Saturday morning, the NOVA Boutique storage facility in Hudson, Que., was badly damaged by a fire.
A large gasoline can was found nearby, and Quebec provincial police are investigating the incident.
“Somehow or other, it hits you in the gut,” says store volunteer Monique Verdier.
Inside the building were thousands of dollars worth of donated clothes to be sold. The proceeds from these sales support NOVA programs, such as home-based palliative care. Because of smoke damage, many of the clothes are no longer suitable for sale.
“Instead of making several thousand a week, we’ll be lucky to make $500 from a fire sale,” says Janet Ellerbeck, who started the store a decade ago to support NOVA, which runs a variety of outreach programs.
The incident has frightened volunteers like Verdier.
“I guess you never think it’s going to happen in your own community,” she says.
“Most of us know each other.”
She’s baffled as to why anyone would target a NOVA Boutique, given the store’s purpose. Prior to volunteering for the store, Verdier got help when her husband was dying of cancer.
“The last month was exceptional,” she tells Global News. “We had a nurse with us like three times a week. They helped me and they calmed my husband.”
NOVA pays nurses from the funds they raise at stores like Ellerbeck’s boutique. Verdier points out that the services are needed, especially since Hudson’s population is aging.
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Others see it that way, too, and since Monday, clothing donations have shot up, stored for now in a 1,000-square-foot building across the street that is on loan to the boutique by Josie Pascoe.
“They had a fire and they needed some space, and it was empty so they can use it,” she says.
The store needs more winter clothes, but they have enough clothes now to return to business as usual in a few days. A fundraising fashion show planned for next week is still on; luckily, all the models had their clothes with them, except for one.
“My clothing got smoked out, unfortunately, so I’m going to have a smokey fashion show on Monday,” jokes Sharon Gaul, one of the fashion show models.
Ellerbeck is devastated by the fire but vows to keep on going.
“We’ll recover,” she says, fighting back tears.
“We won’t let this beat us.”