In need of items, Community Loan Closet extends donation hours

Aside from managing the Salvation Army’s Community Loan Closet and facilitating 90-day equipment loans to people in need, Dick Koehler can often be found in the supply room tinkering with a new piece or repairing one that has been returned.

Recently, the Community Loan Closet announced it was in need of donations of durable medical equipment to add to its stock; from Koehler’s experience, what the volunteer-operated facility needs most is “anything with wheels under it.”

“Wheelchairs, knee scooters, four-wheel walkers or rollators,” Koehler said. “Those are very popular … People are needing them. There’s been a lot of knee and hip surgeries. This winter has been tough on ‘em.”

To encourage the public to donate their unneeded medical equipment — like wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs, bath benches and toilet risers — the Community Loan Closet will hold an equipment drive Thursday through Saturday at the 404 S. Second Ave. E. office space.

Volunteer Linda Anderson said the loan closet will extend its office hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during those days in order to better accommodate donators who want to drop off items. The drive, she added, is also a time for others “to return equipment that has been on loan” for more than the allotted three-month term.

No matter if it’s broken, used or fresh out of the box, Koehler said the Community Loan Closet will find a use for just about any donated item. However, Koehler said the loan closet cannot accept donations of CPAP machines, oxygen generators and “sharps,” like needles or syringes.

To loan equipment from the Community Loan Closet, Koehler said Jasper County residents must show proof of residency and their driver’s license. No charge is issued for the loaned items.

Koehler said a service like this is valuable to a community, especially when insurance cannot provide adequate equipment or rehabilitation aids to patients after surgeries or injuries.

The Community Loan Closet exists, he said, “to make life a little easier” for those people.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com