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In response to Keep Business Local (April 22, 2021):

As a member of the Thompson Falls Booster Club board, I wanted to respond to the concern recently brought up about the booster club not selecting local businesses as suppliers for some of our merchandise. To be clear, we have not had an official vote on this issue, but we are considering it. This is not a decision we will make lightly, and we are reviewing it from many different angles in the hopes of finding the best possible solution for the students we support.

One of the largest issues for the booster club is when we have to stockpile inventory. Holding onto inventory often means we lose money. Currently, we have a large stockpile of merchandise that has been purchased over the years that we are forced to sell at a loss. The money lost on this merchandise is money that we could have used to support our local students and teams. For us, this is an unacceptable result.

For this reason, we have been looking at different companies that can provide gear to our community and ship direct from their store to the individual buyer. Prior to even considering this as an option, we asked our local businesses if they were able to provide small custom orders in a cost-effective way. We were told that it was not something the local company would be able to do, and they understood the reasons we were looking at other sources to provide this service.

I will speak for the entire board when I say we are not trying to hurt our local businesses but rather, we are trying to keep the booster club running and supporting our local kids and school in the best, most cost-effective manner possible.

I strongly encourage those that have an opinion on any booster club issue to come to our meetings and share those opinions and contribute their time. We are a small but dedicated group of parents and community members working hard to do the best we can for our local school and students. If you feel you have a solution to offer, constructive input, or even just time that you would like to offer to help us in this mission, please come to one of our meetings.

I would like to say thank you to those that have committed to keeping the booster clubs doors open and providing a much needed service to our local students and school.

Sarah Fairbank,

Thompson Falls Booster Club President