November 20, 2023 • 11 mins
Kelly Andress is the Executive Director ofThe New Store, which is one of the major programs of the non-profit, "The Richland County Auxillary." The New Store, located in Mansfield, helps around 6,000 kids each year with school clothing, back packs with supplies, winter coats, Christmas gifts and much more. The program has been around for over 20 years and Kelly is in her 1st year as executive director. Learn more about "The New Store", how you can donate or volunteer on the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The CEO you should know, broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO, Kelly Andris,executive director of the New Store.
First of all, good morning,Good morning, Thank you for being here,
Thank you for having me. AllRight, so I've heard your name
and I've heard the new Store,but we want to get more information.
(00:23):
So let's begin at the top andtell us what is the New Store.
Yeah, so the New Store isan organization. Our nonprofit is actually the
Richland County Children's Auxiliary, and theNew Store is one of our major programs.
We are a nonprofit located in RichlandCounty, Ohio, and through about
(00:43):
six different programs, we are ableto help six thousand kids every year receive
different provisions that they need in theirlives to be successful, such as school
clothes, backpacks fully loaded with schoolsupplies, Christmas gifts, a new winter
coat, and several other things.So everything that they get from us is
(01:03):
brand new. Our mission is tohelp some of the neediest kids in Richland
County. All right, so theNews Store is helping those locally. Where
are you located at in the middOhio area. Yeah, we're at the
midd Ohio Conference Center at eight ninetyWest Fourth Street in Mansfield, and we
have a boutique setup and they're fullyloaded with school clothes. Now, let's
(01:26):
talk about kind of the organization overall. How long have you been in operation?
What is a date back to itall started with Christmas for about fifty
kids back in nineteen ninety six asan auxiliary of Richland County Children's Services,
and from that we grew. Intwo thousand and seven we opened up the
new store. When if some peoplemight remember, there was a place called
(01:49):
the Store on Diamond Street and whenthey closed their doors, we were approached
as the auxiliary to say would youlike to take over those services? And
so our board decided yes, andin two thousand and seven we started the
new store. We used to belocated at what is now the Foundation Academy
building on Trimble Road, and sincethen we've had three expansions and moved over
(02:12):
to midd Ohio Conference Center in twentyand eleven and we now occupy six thousand
square feet. Now, you mentioned, you know, helping kids with clothing,
coats, you know, backpacks,things like that. Are you open
year round like like any day?Certain days of the week. How does
it work. It's not just acertain time with you, right, it's
year a round is correct, it'syear round. Everything we do is referral
(02:32):
based and appointment based. So familiesget referred to us for the new store,
which as I mentioned is our biggestprogram. We have what we call
dressing days and so those kids getreferred to us based on financial need and
they're identified by schools throughout Richland County. We work with all the charter schools,
private schools and public schools in RichlandCounty. They identify the children,
(02:54):
send over a referral and then thefamilies call us to make an appointment.
So each child as an appointment fora dressing day. We have about sixteen
dressing days per year where kids comein and they get paired up with a
volunteer who helps them shop for clothing, so they get to go shopping on
their own, pick out what theyfeel good about. Again, it's all
(03:15):
brand new clothing. They get fourshirts, three pairs of pants, shoes,
socks, underwear, and a fewother goodies to go with thems to
get them started for their year.I'm sure you have a lot of excited
people when they come to see you. Then. Oh absolutely, it's a
very fun, positive, encouraging experiencefor the kids. I'll have kids that
come up and give me a hugand say, miss Kelly, I just
love it here, and it's justa really fun process. All right.
(03:39):
Well, great to learn all aboutthe News Store and their executive director,
Kelly Andris, this week's CEO.You should know how long have you been
with the organization. I've been withthe New Store for about seven years now,
and I've been executive director for ayear. Okay, how things been
going as the executive director? Busy? Still up and running and moving forward.
(03:59):
Yes, very very busy. It'sbeen great. So you mentioned areas
you serve is just Richland County thencorrect. Okay, Well, let's step
away from work and find out abit more about you. So again we're
hearing from Kelly Andris, executive directorof the News Store. Let's go back
to the beginning, and if youwould tell us where was Kelly Andres born.
I was born and raised right downthe road and be Syrus, Ohio.
(04:23):
Okay, Crawford County. Where'd yougo to high school? You?
Syrus High School? Okay? Yeah, all right? And after school maybe
highlights along the way to wind itup at the new store. Yeah.
So I went to Wittenberg University inSpringfield, Ohio for my undergraduate degree,
and then I went on to theOhio State University and got my master's in
healthcare administration. And I worked inhealthcare for about ten years, mostly for
(04:47):
Ohio Health and med Central when itwas med Central at the time. And
then as my husband and I startedto have a family, I made the
jump into the nonprofit sector to kindof blend my expertise and solving and management
and merge that more with my passion, which is for community service and helping
others. And I've been with thenews store for seven years and it's been
(05:11):
a phenomenal experience. I absolutely loveit. Awesome. Love to hear that.
All right, So let's find outa bit more about you. I
heard you say husband, family,So tell us a little more about Kelly
and the family. Yeah. So, my husband, George and I have
lived in Mansfield for fourteen years.He's from the area. And then we
have two beautiful girls who keep usextremely busy. Olivia's ten and Madeline is
(05:32):
seven. So we're on the run. Good deal now, work family what
do you do in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies? Well,
it's mostly sitting on the sidelines withthe kids for whatever sporting event or
musical event they're into. If Ido get a little bit of spare time
to myself, I love to read, spend time at the lake with my
family, and we try as muchas we can to get out to all
(05:54):
the wonderful things that Mansfield has tooffer for families. It's such a great
place with a lot of hidden gemsthat we love to explore. So we
do a lot of that. Allright. Kelly anderis with us for a
few more minutes this week's CEO youshould know, Executive director of the News
Store again located in Mansfield at themidd Ohio Conference Center on West four Street.
(06:15):
Overall, in terms of staff members, does it change for me,
you know over the course of theyear. Well, I always say we
are a living example of it takesa village to raise a child, right,
And there are really only two ofus on staff, so myself and
then Teresa Burkhard is our director ofpurchasing. As I mentioned before, everything
they get from our program is brandnew, so she is an expert at
finding bargains and the rest is volunteerbased. We have well over two hundred
(06:40):
volunteers who help us. For addressingday alone, we need about thirty volunteers.
We had our winter coat giveaway thisweek. We gave away seven hundred
coats in three hours. And toset that up, tear it down and
help all the kids, it tookus, you know, at least one
hundred volunteers in one night to makeall that happen. So we are extremely
dependent on our volunteer base and theyare incredible. We have the best volunteers.
(07:04):
They are there whenever we need them, one email, one phone call,
they're always there to answer. Well, that's great to hear. Now
in terms of your coke giveaway,have you been doing that for a lot
of years all that's been going on? Oh my goodness, I think we've
probably been doing that as long asthe news store has been around. We've
been giving away coats, so itgoes way back, and of course it
just expands year after year. AsI mentioned, we were able to give
(07:27):
away seven hundred coats in just threehours, so it's a super fun event.
We actually have some great partnerships withCleveland cliffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers have
gotten involved in the last two yearsand supported us, so it really is
a great event and a really funnight for the kids. Now, let's
go back to volunteers for a moment. If somebody is hearing your voice and
they're like, I would love todonate my time, I would love to
(07:47):
volunteer and help out, how canthey reach out? Who can they reach
out to? Absolutely so check outour website. First Start is a great
place. Thenews Store dot org.There's a ton of information on our different
programs as well as how to volunteer. Our email is info at the Newsstore
dot org and if you shoot usan email, there's ways for everyone to
(08:09):
get involved. We have work sessionswhere some folks come in and cut tags
and sort our items and get themready for our next event. And then
we have other things where you're helpinga child one on one and helping them
pick out clothes. So there's Ialways say there's something for everyone. Now,
is there anything in terms of programsthat you offer that we haven't touched
on this morning that you want tolet people know because you do a lot
(08:31):
of great things for the community.Is there something we need to touch with.
We're actually right in the middle ofour Christmas program right now. So
we work with all the different socialservice agencies to refer kids for our Christmas
program and we help about a thousandkids each year receive a bright Christmas.
And so we are always looking fordonors who would be willing to grab a
(08:52):
wish list and shop for a child. Those are available now we have.
Last I counted, we're a littleunder one hundred kids left to be adopted
this year, which is great,and so if anyone is interested in that,
they can give us a call.Our number is four one nine five
six five seven, five oh five, and I would be happy to send
over a wish list so you canget shopping right in time for Black Friday.
(09:13):
Deals and gifts are due back startingDecember fourth. Okay, all right,
so December fourth, So if somebodywants more information, we'll throw out
the website and the phone number againbefore we ramp up our conversation. But
you know, you think about youjust kind of nowadays where everything costs more,
and you know, want to helpmake sure children have a great Christmas
(09:33):
things like that. Boy, ifsomebody could help out donate, I mean
now is really the time to reachout to you guys. Right, absolutely,
and if shopping isn't your thing.As I mentioned before, Teresa and
our team are phenomenal at stretching adollar. They know how to find the
bargains. We work with national organizationswho help nonprofits get name brand items at
(09:54):
discount prices. So you know,we can get America actual American Girl dolls
for like fifty dollars because we're anonprofit, which if anybody knows what an
American Girl doll costs, that's ahuge bargain. So we know how to
stretch a dollar and we would gladlytake donations to do the shopping for you.
All right, Well, before Ilet you go, could you throw
out the website and the phone numberagain. If somebody wants to donate,
(10:16):
they want to donate their time,they want to volunteer, how can they
reach Kelly Andris in the new store. Yes, so visit our website at
the new Store dot org. Ouremail is info I NFO at the New
Store dot org. Or you cangive us a call at four one nine
five six five seven five O five. Kelly, it was great to learn
(10:39):
about your organization and learn about you. Thank you so much for coming in,
thanks for having me, and wewish you continued success. Thank you.
Kelly Andres, executive director of theNew Store, the CEO you should
know. Read a bio, seea photo, and here the extended interview
at WMA, n FM dot org. Leading means having a vision and sharing
(11:01):
it with others. I'm John Robyof RFI Insurance. We're excited to bring
you this program featuring CEOs from ourarea who will share their thoughts and what
it means to work and live innorth central Ohio.
The CEO you should know, broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO, Kelly Andris,executive director of the New Store.
First of all, good morning,Good morning, Thank you for being here,
Thank you for having me. AllRight, so I've heard your name
and I've heard the new Store,but we want to get more information.
(00:23):
So let's begin at the top andtell us what is the New Store.
Yeah, so the New Store isan organization. Our nonprofit is actually the
Richland County Children's Auxiliary, and theNew Store is one of our major programs.
We are a nonprofit located in RichlandCounty, Ohio, and through about
(00:43):
six different programs, we are ableto help six thousand kids every year receive
different provisions that they need in theirlives to be successful, such as school
clothes, backpacks fully loaded with schoolsupplies, Christmas gifts, a new winter
coat, and several other things.So everything that they get from us is
(01:03):
brand new. Our mission is tohelp some of the neediest kids in Richland
County. All right, so theNews Store is helping those locally. Where
are you located at in the middOhio area. Yeah, we're at the
midd Ohio Conference Center at eight ninetyWest Fourth Street in Mansfield, and we
have a boutique setup and they're fullyloaded with school clothes. Now, let's
(01:26):
talk about kind of the organization overall. How long have you been in operation?
What is a date back to itall started with Christmas for about fifty
kids back in nineteen ninety six asan auxiliary of Richland County Children's Services,
and from that we grew. Intwo thousand and seven we opened up the
new store. When if some peoplemight remember, there was a place called
(01:49):
the Store on Diamond Street and whenthey closed their doors, we were approached
as the auxiliary to say would youlike to take over those services? And
so our board decided yes, andin two thousand and seven we started the
new store. We used to belocated at what is now the Foundation Academy
building on Trimble Road, and sincethen we've had three expansions and moved over
(02:12):
to midd Ohio Conference Center in twentyand eleven and we now occupy six thousand
square feet. Now, you mentioned, you know, helping kids with clothing,
coats, you know, backpacks,things like that. Are you open
year round like like any day?Certain days of the week. How does
it work. It's not just acertain time with you, right, it's
year a round is correct, it'syear round. Everything we do is referral
(02:32):
based and appointment based. So familiesget referred to us for the new store,
which as I mentioned is our biggestprogram. We have what we call
dressing days and so those kids getreferred to us based on financial need and
they're identified by schools throughout Richland County. We work with all the charter schools,
private schools and public schools in RichlandCounty. They identify the children,
(02:54):
send over a referral and then thefamilies call us to make an appointment.
So each child as an appointment fora dressing day. We have about sixteen
dressing days per year where kids comein and they get paired up with a
volunteer who helps them shop for clothing, so they get to go shopping on
their own, pick out what theyfeel good about. Again, it's all
(03:15):
brand new clothing. They get fourshirts, three pairs of pants, shoes,
socks, underwear, and a fewother goodies to go with thems to
get them started for their year.I'm sure you have a lot of excited
people when they come to see you. Then. Oh absolutely, it's a
very fun, positive, encouraging experiencefor the kids. I'll have kids that
come up and give me a hugand say, miss Kelly, I just
love it here, and it's justa really fun process. All right.
(03:39):
Well, great to learn all aboutthe News Store and their executive director,
Kelly Andris, this week's CEO.You should know how long have you been
with the organization. I've been withthe New Store for about seven years now,
and I've been executive director for ayear. Okay, how things been
going as the executive director? Busy? Still up and running and moving forward.
(03:59):
Yes, very very busy. It'sbeen great. So you mentioned areas
you serve is just Richland County thencorrect. Okay, Well, let's step
away from work and find out abit more about you. So again we're
hearing from Kelly Andris, executive directorof the News Store. Let's go back
to the beginning, and if youwould tell us where was Kelly Andres born.
I was born and raised right downthe road and be Syrus, Ohio.
(04:23):
Okay, Crawford County. Where'd yougo to high school? You?
Syrus High School? Okay? Yeah, all right? And after school maybe
highlights along the way to wind itup at the new store. Yeah.
So I went to Wittenberg University inSpringfield, Ohio for my undergraduate degree,
and then I went on to theOhio State University and got my master's in
healthcare administration. And I worked inhealthcare for about ten years, mostly for
(04:47):
Ohio Health and med Central when itwas med Central at the time. And
then as my husband and I startedto have a family, I made the
jump into the nonprofit sector to kindof blend my expertise and solving and management
and merge that more with my passion, which is for community service and helping
others. And I've been with thenews store for seven years and it's been
(05:11):
a phenomenal experience. I absolutely loveit. Awesome. Love to hear that.
All right, So let's find outa bit more about you. I
heard you say husband, family,So tell us a little more about Kelly
and the family. Yeah. So, my husband, George and I have
lived in Mansfield for fourteen years.He's from the area. And then we
have two beautiful girls who keep usextremely busy. Olivia's ten and Madeline is
(05:32):
seven. So we're on the run. Good deal now, work family what
do you do in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies? Well,
it's mostly sitting on the sidelines withthe kids for whatever sporting event or
musical event they're into. If Ido get a little bit of spare time
to myself, I love to read, spend time at the lake with my
family, and we try as muchas we can to get out to all
(05:54):
the wonderful things that Mansfield has tooffer for families. It's such a great
place with a lot of hidden gemsthat we love to explore. So we
do a lot of that. Allright. Kelly anderis with us for a
few more minutes this week's CEO youshould know, Executive director of the News
Store again located in Mansfield at themidd Ohio Conference Center on West four Street.
(06:15):
Overall, in terms of staff members, does it change for me,
you know over the course of theyear. Well, I always say we
are a living example of it takesa village to raise a child, right,
And there are really only two ofus on staff, so myself and
then Teresa Burkhard is our director ofpurchasing. As I mentioned before, everything
they get from our program is brandnew, so she is an expert at
finding bargains and the rest is volunteerbased. We have well over two hundred
(06:40):
volunteers who help us. For addressingday alone, we need about thirty volunteers.
We had our winter coat giveaway thisweek. We gave away seven hundred
coats in three hours. And toset that up, tear it down and
help all the kids, it tookus, you know, at least one
hundred volunteers in one night to makeall that happen. So we are extremely
dependent on our volunteer base and theyare incredible. We have the best volunteers.
(07:04):
They are there whenever we need them, one email, one phone call,
they're always there to answer. Well, that's great to hear. Now
in terms of your coke giveaway,have you been doing that for a lot
of years all that's been going on? Oh my goodness, I think we've
probably been doing that as long asthe news store has been around. We've
been giving away coats, so itgoes way back, and of course it
just expands year after year. AsI mentioned, we were able to give
(07:27):
away seven hundred coats in just threehours, so it's a super fun event.
We actually have some great partnerships withCleveland cliffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers have
gotten involved in the last two yearsand supported us, so it really is
a great event and a really funnight for the kids. Now, let's
go back to volunteers for a moment. If somebody is hearing your voice and
they're like, I would love todonate my time, I would love to
(07:47):
volunteer and help out, how canthey reach out? Who can they reach
out to? Absolutely so check outour website. First Start is a great
place. Thenews Store dot org.There's a ton of information on our different
programs as well as how to volunteer. Our email is info at the Newsstore
dot org and if you shoot usan email, there's ways for everyone to
(08:09):
get involved. We have work sessionswhere some folks come in and cut tags
and sort our items and get themready for our next event. And then
we have other things where you're helpinga child one on one and helping them
pick out clothes. So there's Ialways say there's something for everyone. Now,
is there anything in terms of programsthat you offer that we haven't touched
on this morning that you want tolet people know because you do a lot
(08:31):
of great things for the community.Is there something we need to touch with.
We're actually right in the middle ofour Christmas program right now. So
we work with all the different socialservice agencies to refer kids for our Christmas
program and we help about a thousandkids each year receive a bright Christmas.
And so we are always looking fordonors who would be willing to grab a
(08:52):
wish list and shop for a child. Those are available now we have.
Last I counted, we're a littleunder one hundred kids left to be adopted
this year, which is great,and so if anyone is interested in that,
they can give us a call.Our number is four one nine five
six five seven, five oh five, and I would be happy to send
over a wish list so you canget shopping right in time for Black Friday.
(09:13):
Deals and gifts are due back startingDecember fourth. Okay, all right,
so December fourth, So if somebodywants more information, we'll throw out
the website and the phone number againbefore we ramp up our conversation. But
you know, you think about youjust kind of nowadays where everything costs more,
and you know, want to helpmake sure children have a great Christmas
(09:33):
things like that. Boy, ifsomebody could help out donate, I mean
now is really the time to reachout to you guys. Right, absolutely,
and if shopping isn't your thing.As I mentioned before, Teresa and
our team are phenomenal at stretching adollar. They know how to find the
bargains. We work with national organizationswho help nonprofits get name brand items at
(09:54):
discount prices. So you know,we can get America actual American Girl dolls
for like fifty dollars because we're anonprofit, which if anybody knows what an
American Girl doll costs, that's ahuge bargain. So we know how to
stretch a dollar and we would gladlytake donations to do the shopping for you.
All right, Well, before Ilet you go, could you throw
out the website and the phone numberagain. If somebody wants to donate,
(10:16):
they want to donate their time,they want to volunteer, how can they
reach Kelly Andris in the new store. Yes, so visit our website at
the new Store dot org. Ouremail is info I NFO at the New
Store dot org. Or you cangive us a call at four one nine
five six five seven five O five. Kelly, it was great to learn
(10:39):
about your organization and learn about you. Thank you so much for coming in,
thanks for having me, and wewish you continued success. Thank you.
Kelly Andres, executive director of theNew Store, the CEO you should
know. Read a bio, seea photo, and here the extended interview
at WMA, n FM dot org. Leading means having a vision and sharing
(11:01):
it with others. I'm John Robyof RFI Insurance. We're excited to bring
you this program featuring CEOs from ourarea who will share their thoughts and what
it means to work and live innorth central Ohio.
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