The city of Fort Stockton does not have a Goodwill, but instead distributes clothing and household items to the needy through a center called El Buen Viceno.

For more than 30 years El Buen Vecino has provided quality, gently used items such as women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, books, electronics, furniture, and miscellaneous housewares to needy members of the Fort Stockton community. The service to the community is supported completely through donations and serves more than 75 families a week, free of charge.

Recently, the little facility was plagued by burglaries. Thieves broke out the windows, damaged the donations box and stole many of the items intended for the poor. To help combat the break-ins, the Fort Stockton Rotary Club spent last weekend performing much-needed repairs that included:

• Repairing the dropoff bin, which was damaged by vandals and thieves

• Installing security lighting and cameras

• Reinforcing the windows

“About four years ago, the Rotary Club helped install shelving, a donation box and air conditioners,” said community service director Lydia May. “It just broke our hearts to hear of the burglaries because El Bien Viceno does so much good in our community. We wanted to do something to help them secure their donations, and this seemed like a good project for us.”

The act of kindness was part of the Fort Stockton Rotary’s community service project. Each year the club selects a local organization to help out and spends a weekend working on the project. Fund ing came from a $2,247 community matching grant from Rotary District 5520. Past recipients have included the Girl Scout hut, the Senior Citizens Center and Meals on Wheels.

For more information, please contact Fort Stockton Rotary Club media director, Kirby Warnock at 214-600-5861.