When we spoke with Thrive & Thrift board President and Lake Placid Baptist Church Pastor Jim Koenig on July 11, he gave us an update on the newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which is an outgrowth of the Lake Placid Ecumenical Charities program. The Helping Hands Thrift Shop has been closed and the food pantry is still going at St. Agnes Church, and the new building will be located next to the Shipman Youth Center on Cummings Road.

Fundraising efforts were about $700,000 in early July, with an extra $250,000 promised by the state of New York. The target is $800,000 just to get the building up, but more funds are needed in order to finish the basement and buy furnishings and there’s no telling when the state funds will be in hand. Organizers want the building to open in October.

Plus, Thrive & Thrift will need some working capital, as they help people in need above and beyond the thrift shop and food pantry. The silent giving — charity work behind the scenes, with no headlines or publicity — has gone on for many years since Ecumenical Charities Director Linda Young founded the organization, and she’s been one of the many angels among us keeping families in the region fed, clothed, etc.

That means the community needs to continue to rally and give to this worthy cause. Its sister building next door went up in a similar fashion, with fundraising and in-kind donations and labor to put up a building in the late 1990s to serve local children while honoring Thomas Shipman Sr., a Lake Placid youth police officer who died unexpectedly in 1995.

We encourage people to give what they can for the good of the cause.

“I think we’ve all had those moments where we were in need ourselves and somebody reached out, and this is really that giving it forward,” Koenig told the News.

At some point, the Adirondack Foundation’s fundraising campaign will wrap up and the new Thrive & Thrift board will take over. For now, though, the Adirondack Foundation is still the place for donations. The direct page for Thrive & Thrift fundraising is tinyurl.com/ykue2mnp.

Also, people should think about volunteering at Thrive & Thrift; more volunteers will be needed.

To say that we’re excited for this project is an understatement, and we cringe when people say there is no community spirit in the village of Lake Placid and the town of North Elba. Anyone who says that is misinformed and needs to open their eyes. You only have to attend a Lake Placid Community Day to see what is really going on here — by celebrating local organizations and its many volunteers. For generations, the people in this region have made our communities thrive thanks to their donations of time and money to benefit their neighbors. We see it every day, and we’re proud to call the Tri-Lakes home.