Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette St. Vincent de Paul, of Hancock, has begun a capital campaign to aid in paying for a much needed truck used for picking up large donated goods such as furniture.

HANCOCK — St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Society’s resale store on Quincy Street has begun the public phase of a capital campaign to raise funds to offset the cost of a truck which is needed for picking up large donations such as furniture.

The late-model, single-unit, Chevrolet truck replaced a much older, smaller, and worn out Ford truck, when its engine “threw a rod,” meaning a push rod broke in the cylinder, which cracked the engine block. Added to other issues effecting the old truck, it was more cost efficient to replace it than to repair it.

“We did get the new truck already,” said store manager Carla Johnson. “We are hoping to defray the cost of the truck, so we can continue our mission of helping others.”

Currently, she said, the payments, insurance, license plate and insurance transfers, are all being taken from the store’s budget, which all but prevents them from carrying out their mission.

SVdP’s mission is to operate its resale store, with all proceeds going to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank, which is next door to the store. The truck is used by two employees to pick up large donations to the store, such as furniture items, and is on the road several days per week.

The new truck, said one of the employees, is much larger than the previous truck, which saves time, as well as fuel expenses. Frequently, the store receives large quantities of donations, such as when a homeowner is downsizing and furniture and other items from several rooms are donated. Whereas the old truck often compelled them to return to the spot to pick up another load, the new truck most often eliminates the need for the second run.

With a capital campaign, typically, there are two overarching phases: the quiet phase and the public phase. Johnson said thanks to several establishments, the store has now moved into the public phase.

“We’ve had several business already provide — nice, generous donation,” Johnson said, “but we are still just under 50 percent of the required amount.”

Johnson said the (St. Vincent de Paul) Conference provided the money needed to purchase the truck, but must be paid off at the end of the year. The goal of the capital campaign is to raise as much money as possible by the end of that year to either greatly reduce, or eliminate, the need to acquire a loan by end of that time period.

“I basically just want to get word out to people,” she said, “that we have the new truck, that if they would like to help us out in taking care of it, people can send the donations to the store.”

Anyone wishing to donate, she said, just has to make sure the donation is marked that it is for the truck, otherwise it goes next door to the food bank.

While the store has one year to pay the conference back, Johnson said said she is hoping to wrap up the campaign much sooner, adding: “We’ll see how it goes.”