Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
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Thursday, March 5, 1998
Local bath-and-body store's clientele blooms
By Jeremy M. Doherty jdoherty@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A locally owned beauty product retailer is coming up rosy following some national attention.
Bloom Bath & Body, 704 Massachusetts St., specializes in bath and body products. It is increasing its distribution since receiving a favorable mention in the current issue of Mademoiselle magazine.
Product orders have been flooding in ever since, said co-owner Margot Wells.
"Normally, we only get about four calls a day from people who've seen a product of ours and want more." Wells said. "Now, on a heavy day, we've been receiving 25 calls."
To accommodate new customers, Wells will put out a full-color catalog this month. In addition to a second outlet that opened in Denver last year, she has representatives in Chicago and Los Angeles. Distribution also may be in the works for locales in New York and Hawaii, Wells said.
Heidi English, Overland Park junior, said she had visited Bloom Bath & Body once.
"Our company grew out of the Lawrence clientele. One thing we've been appreciative of is that the people keep coming back."
Some KU students said they were wary of the high prices usually associated with specialty outlets.
"Personally, I can't afford to spend money on products like that," English said. "They sold bathrobes there which were way out of my range. T-shirts and shorts works for me."
Wells said she tried to keep items in her store price under $20.
Margot Wells
"The KU students make up about 60 percent of our clientele," she said. "We've provided gifts to sororites that can be put together in our stores for less than $5. They don't have that mass-marketed or plastic look."
Heather Bright, Lake Forest, Ill., senior, regularly visits bath and beauty stores in Kansas City and said Bloom Bath & Body offered good bargains.
"That sounds like a great gift
Co-owner of Bloom Bath & Body
idea for roommates," Bright said. "I have five roommates, so it'd be inexpensive."
Wells said that not only did KU students shop in her store, but also they routinely were offered employment. Pleaseing her customers is a priority, she said.
"Our company grew out of the Lawrence clientele," Wells said. "One thing we've been appreciative of is that the people keep coming back."
A sales associate at Bloom Bath & Body, 704 Massachusetts St., stocks products at the counter. The locally-owned store has seen an increased number of orders since being featured in the current issue of *Mademoiselle*. Photo by Eileen Bakri / KANSAN
Volunteering first step for career
By Melody Ard
By Melody Ard Special to the Kansan
Although Jamie Graske is not a resident at the First Step House, she found her volunteer experience to be a good climb toward her future career.
Graske, Omaha senior, began volunteering at the house in the fall of 1996 as a requirement for a social-work class.
The house, located at 345 Florida St., is a drug reintegration residence for women and children. It offers services to the residents as well as a chance for volunteers to better understand social service organizations.
"This gives me skills I will use for the rest of my life since I am going to social work," Graske said. "It gives me an opportunity to realize what field I want to go into because the field is so broad."
Since beginning her volunteer work about 18 months ago, Graske has worked as an administrative volunteer. Her responsibilities include answering phones, sorting mail, filing and entering information into a data base.
Graske does not work directly with the residents, but she says
she enjoys the contact she does have with them.
"I really like the interaction with the clients, and the kids make it interesting," she said. "They are still so innocent, but at the same time they aren't. They know so much more than I did when I was their age."
Katie Jones, case manager, said about 15 women lived in the house at one time and the number of children could range from two to 10. depending on the residents.
"Most women come here after completing some kind of addiction treatment," Jones said. "It's kind of a half-way house, as it used to be called, before they go out on their own."
The women, whose average stay is three months, are given vocational training and counseling.
Volunteers help with those tasks and others. Jones estimated the house had 20 volunteers this fall, about a dozen were KU students.
There are several volunteer opportunities for students, including aerobics instruction, tutoring about computer literacy, administrative tasks and child care.
"It isn't just baby-sitting," Jones said. "The tasks are varied so people don't feel like they are just sitting in a corner."
Many of the activities focus on the children, and those people volunteering in the child-care area work closely with the children to develop positive habits.
"We try to do activities that promote social skills so that the children can use those skills in other areas of their lives, such as school or with their mothers," said Amy Myers, children's group facilitator.
Both Jones and Myers were former volunteers at the house and now have staff positions.
"This is an excellent way to build work experience, and I'm always happy to write reference letters," Jones said. "I have found that my volunteer experiences were very important to my career."
For Graske, the benefits for her future and the environment of the house keep coming back although her class commitment is fulfilled.
"The atmosphere is always changing, and the people are always different," she said. "I have found out that I can make a difference. When you give someone respect, it makes a world of difference."
Drop-In Center seeks volunteers
Shelter needs help to lengthen hours, open on Saturdays
By Susie Gura
sguru@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The Lawrence Community Drop-In Center seeks volunteers to help extend its hours.
The center, a nonprofit day shelter, is located in the Oread Friends Meeting House, 1146 Oregon St.
The Drop-In Center is open from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. It needs volunteers to extend its hours to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.
The shelter is a resource not only for the homeless but also for those who may be lonely, need access to a shower, a telephone or warmth.
"We provide them with a shower, snacks, a cup of coffee and toiletries," said William Burton,
volunteer.
People also may use the center as an address for job applications or interviews.
Donnell Turner, center director, said the volunteers knew business contacts and helped set up appointments.
Volunteer training sessions were held last month in the Kansas Union. Deb Engstrom, board member, Deb Wilkinson, board member and assistant professor of social welfare, and Suzanne Boyd, board member and assistant professor of social welfare, conducted the sessions.
"We advertised the training session in both the The University Daily Kansan and the Lawrence Journal-World. We also talked to IFC and the Center for Community Outreach." Wilkinson said.
At the training session, board members talked about the center's history, the purpose, the services provided and how the center fits within community resources.
Boyd said the center had recorded 580 counts of people using it.
He said that not all of the people at the center were homeless, but that some did not have an adequate permanent shelter.
"We average 10 to 15 people a day, varying in age and ethnicity. The Drop-In Center is an outgrowth of a grassroots movement that began in the fall of 1994," Boyd said.
Volunteer expectations and concerns were discussed at the training.
Wilkinson said, "They are a group of people who want to be engaged with regular people."
The board members also talked about myths concerning the homeless.
"For the most part, they share our values," Wilkinson said. "They prefer to be clean, to work and to take care of their kids. They have the same goals we do, but they find it harder to achieve them."
The Center needs people to volunteer. To volunteer, contact Deb Wilkinson or Suzanne Boyd at 864-4720.
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