By Petra Chesner Schlatter; BucksLocalNews

A new thrift store has opened in Penndel by some folks who already run two missions for the homeless.

The store will help to support the Ministries of Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission and items for sale run the gamut from new and used shoes to shiny wooden dining room sets.

Langhorne couple Dick and Laura McMillen is an integral part of why the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission Thrift Store opened. Combined, the duo has spent more than 50 years helping the homeless.

Dick McMillen is the CEO of the mission and his wife, Laura, is the Penndel store manager.

The Sunday Breakfast thrift store opened May 18 at 71 Bellevue Ave., Penndel.

The mission has another thrift store called Beehive and Beehive Too at 7135 and 7136 Rising Sun Ave., Philadelphia.

When asked how people can help with the thrift store, McMillen said, “by donating goods, shopping at the thrift store and volunteering their time.”

An array of goods is accepted: furniture, household items, clothing, books and, toys. Items are accepted during business hours only. Donated items must be in good condition.

Items not accepted by the thrift store include large appliances, TVs, pianos, electric organs, stuffed animals, computers or soiled/torn clothing.

All items are donated by individuals from various locations around Philadelphia, Bucks County and New Jersey.

Many college students and senior citizens have become frequent visitors to the shop, and owners say they come from all over including Bensalem, Yardley, Newtown and Langhorne and across the bridge from New Jersey.

“It’s been wonderful,” McMillen said. She enjoys “meeting new people every day and seeing some regulars who have been shopping with us since the day we opened.

McMillen said she is grateful for what she has. “We feel we have been given so much,” she said. “We have food. We have shelter. They’re the basic necessities.”

And that fits perfectly into the motto of the mission: “Helping the hungry, homeless and hurting.”

McMillen said her lifetime of helping was instilled by her parents’ influence and today her daughter is studying social work at Philadelphia Biblical University.

“I’ve always felt comfortable with people who are in such great need,” McMillen continued. “I’m not sure why it is. I feel they just need a helping hand. It’s hard to describe it. I’ve been doing it for such a long time. I just love people.”

McMillen noted her husband has been working for rescue missions for 40 years. She has been doing so for around 12.

The couple met working at a mission run by Waterstreet Ministries in Lancaster.

Dick McMillen said his desire to help the homeless came out of his service in the church, working at rescue missions in his hometown of New Castle, Pa.

“Little did I know it would lead to the rest of my career,” he said.

McMillen remarked about the philanthropists who started Sunday Breakfast. “They had a compassion for those who were less fortunate.”

Today, the mission has a men’s facility in Center City at 13th and Vine streets, and a center for women and children at 5200 Wayne Ave., Germantown.

At the mission, three meals are served daily, 365 days a year. However, meals are not served at the Penndel thrift store.

Laura McMillen is amazed by people’s generosity, considering the economic times. “Our donations have been awesome,” she said.

The founders of the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission had a simple goal: to provide a breakfast every Sunday for the poor and to bring them under Christian influence.

McMillen said well-known businessmen, including John Wanamaker, John B. Stetson, Atlee Burpee and former governor James Pollock served as original trustees. They rented a building at 11th and Wood streets in Philadelphia and served the first breakfast on Dec. 15, 1878.

In the 1930s, the board purchased a building at 1120-22 Vine Street in order to “sleep” people. In 1942, the mission moved to 6th and Vine streets.

This location provided room for a chapel, an industrial work area, a shelter, a playground for neighborhood children and a thrift store for families.

The Penndel thrift store is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information on the store, call 215-741-1010. To reach the mission directly, call 215-922-6400, ext. 105 or write: Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 297, Philadelphia, PA 19105-0297. Sunday Breakfast, a non-profit, is on the Web at www.sundaybreakfast.org.