The Awesome Women of Bloomsburg, part 3

Meet Janice Labour

On Main Street in Bloomsburg we have a Salvation Army store that everybody calls the Sal Val. It really is a wondrous place. You can get anything there; girls buy prom dresses there, we got some of our nicest furniture and decorations for our home at Sal Val, shoes, kitchen appliances, games, books, writing paper, hospital "scrubs." You can find it all there and we are always running into friends and neighbors who buy things there too.

Janice Labour is the manager of the place; she is a friend and neighbor. Her history contains heartbreak and setbacks, including having been married to man who ultimately rejected her and left her with an enormous pile of bills to pay. Janice told us the whole story one night when she and her mother came for dinner.

Janice went to work as a night clerk in a motel on weekends while taking over the management of Sal Val. When she took on the role of manager, the place was a mess. There were lots of weekends when she went without sleep, working two jobs. Slowly, steadily, she built a new life for herself and her mother; she paid back all the bills, built the Sal Val into the "cornucopia" that it is today, bought a small house where she and her mother lived.

Some in Janice's position would be bitter. She has brothers; why didn't they help her more? But like Doris Kile Janice is a committed Christian who lives her faith. She told me that she draws her strength from her relationship with God and the people who attend her church; when Janice's mother's health worsened her friends from the church came and helped her. Janice has given so much to the community that it is a pleasure to help her. However, she is a competent woman who doesn't need much help!

I was concerned for Janice when her mother died. Maybe the loss of her mother would trigger feelings of depression and loneliness. From talking with Janice, though, I have not seen nor heard that. Yes, she was sad soon after the death; you could hear it in her voice. But it didn't last and Janice rallied once again. Our Sal Val is as reliable as ever, providing, magically, the one thing you could never find in "regular" stores. A dress I consider my best dress is an odd shade of maroon; I looked and looked until I had given up hope of ever finding the right shoes to match. Then I looked in the Sal Val and found the absolutely right and wonderful pair of shoes with flat heels (comfortable) made of suede (attractive), and just the right color. For one dollar, I kid you not. Thanks, Janice.