That’s part of the reason why Renewed Blessings Resale Shop has given back to 15 Rogers City churches and three parochial schools. This is the second year the resale shop has shared its monetary blessings with area Christian churches and schools.

The nonprofit resale shop receives new or gently used donations of household items, shoes, accessories, and furniture. The only item they don’t accept is clothing. Based on sales over the last year, the shop accrued enough funding to distribute a generous amount evenly amongst the churches and schools.

Recipients are grateful for the generosity of owners Dianne and Larry Darga. The nonprofit resale shop, located at 1092 W. Third St., is run completely by volunteers. The board of directors and the volunteers work hard to keep it growing and being successful.

“Renewed Blessings has supported so many of our outreach events in the church with their gifts,” said the Rev. Karen Zurakowski from Westminster Presbyterian Church. “That they have dedicated all of this time and talent to give back to this community through the churches means the world to me and our congregation, and, I’m sure, to all of these congregations.”

Pictured here are Darga and representatives from 15 Rogers City area churches under the message “Diverse in Faith, United in Mission,” the resale shop’s motto.

The money has come in handy for many practical uses, especially during the pandemic.

“Last year, we used the money for getting internet to the church, in Belknap,” said the Rev. Paul Boerger, pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, in Belknap, a rural area southwest of Rogers City. “And, this year, we will probably do the same — renew that.”

He explained that internet allowed them to get their services online during the pandemic, so they could reach more people even when their doors were closed.

Boerger added that he enjoys shopping at the store.

“I come in here two or three times a month, just to look around,” he said. “It’s a beautiful store. And they do a great job fixing everything up, making it look nice.”

He said having Renewed Blessings in Rogers City benefits the entire community.

“It means a great deal,” Boerger said. “Outside of the community, even, when they come up here to visit, they come in an look around.”

Dianne Darga said they gave to all the churches with a Rogers City address.

“We want to share with them again, because our success has just been overwhelming,” Darga said. “God has guided us and directed us. He leads us. We have ‘God winks’ all the time. We’ll say, ‘Oh, boy, do we need desks,’ and within a week, we have seven desks on the floor. It’s just phenomenal.”

Darga said that whenever they have a need, God meets it for them, and then some.

“He gives us more,” she said.

She did not divulge the amount of money given to each church and school, but the same amount was distributed to each organization. She said especially during the pandemic, churches have still had expenses to pay even if their buildings were empty.

“We just give them a check when we can give them a check,” she said. She and her sister Leeny Ries started the shop in June 2020, after their husbands told them, “No more garage sales.”

“I wouldn’t be able to do it without her and my husband,” Darga said of her sister. “It’s a big job. It got bigger faster than we anticipated.”

She said her minister, the Rev. Derek Riddle, told her, “Find something that you’re good at, and do it for the Lord.”

So, she did. She and her sister were good at garage sales, so here they are, selling a wide variety of items that have all been cleaned an disinfected, polished, fixed, or whatever else it takes to get them looking nearly new to present to customers on the floor.

The shop’s motto is “Diverse in Faith, United in Mission,” representing the unity and bond of Christianity, regardless of denomination.

“The whole idea is that the Christian community, no matter what denomination, works together for one cause,” Darga said.

She said reaching young people is the key to continuing with a strong faith community.

“If we don’t keep them in the church, there won’t be a church,” Darga said.