Second Chance Stories

Sometimes a girl just has to have a stuffed bear twice her size.

That was what Rebecca Balli discovered recently at Second Chance Emporium, the non-profit store and stuffed bear haven in La Grange. She found “Bear” on the toy aisle and it was love at first sight. Second Chance has just about everything and it’s all donated by people and businesses in the area. You can buy clothes for the new baby or a rice cooker for the kitchen. Recently, scores of teachers have been prowling the aisles at Second Chance to buy books, dictionaries, pencils and other school supplies. (And, yes, these classroom heroes are using their own money to supply their students.) The store, on South Reynolds Street in La Grange, is open Fridays and Saturdays and is operated by faithful volunteers from local churches and a hard-working paid staff.

All profits from the store are donated to local non-profit organizations. Second Chance makes regular donations to AMEN, the food pantry in La Grange; Tejas Health Care; the Schulenburg Area Food Pantry; the Fayette County Prescription Drug Program; Bluebonnet Trails Community Services; and Combined Community Action.

The store makes special grants, too. Most recently, Second Chance made these grants:

• $3,000 to the Fayette County Community Theatre, which produces plays featuring local children and adults.

• $3,500 to the La Grange Citizens On Patrol to buy shields for the police department.

• $19,687.40 to St. Mark’s Medical Center to purchase two defibrillators, one for the Cardiovascular Imaging Center and the other for the Cardiovascular Rehab Center.

• $2,000 for the backpack program operated by Tejas Health Care.

• $2,000 to Young Life of La Grange, a member of the national organization that works with young people.

People come from all over to donate stuff to Second Chance. (Come by the shop weekdays to drop off your donations.) And they travel many miles to shop. For example, Rebecca lives in Brownsville, more than 300 miles from La Grange.

She was in town to visit an aunt. And, it turns out, to find a bear friend she immediately named Bear. Bear is in Brownsville now, living in Rebecca’s bedroom.