A Columbia Falls thrift store that raises money for School District 6 will be homeless within a month.

Garden of Eden Thrift and Variety must move its nonprofit secondhand operation from its current location in the former Western Building Center building on First Street because the building has been sold.

O’Brien and Melanie Byrd bought the building and will relocate their liquor store there.

Allen and Danielle Christopherson started Garden of Eden about two years ago to raise scholarship money for Columbia Falls students and provide money for other school activities such as the senior graduation party that provides a safe and secure environment for the celebrating seniors.

They have handed out nine $1,000 scholarships over the past two school years.

“It’s been pretty incredible,” Allen Christopherson said. “The community has embraced us. The support has been humbling.”

Now he’s hoping someone in Columbia Falls may have up to 5,000 square feet of retail space they can rent to continue their nonprofit endeavor.

“We don’t have any leads on other space,” he said. “There’s not a lot of [available] 5,000- to 6,000-square-feet buildings in Columbia Falls.”

The Christophersons are not taking any more donated goods at their store as they prepare for what the future holds. They expect to be moved out of the building by early October.

After raising their two children — Codi, a senior at Columbia Falls, and Micinze, a University of Montana student — the Christophersons felt compelled to do something good for the school district.

“My wife and I, we walked away from our secular jobs,” Allen said. “We felt the need to impact the community.”

He had worked mostly in construction. Danielle worked at Costco for 21 years.

“We’ve been running the thrift store, with very few volunteers,” he said.

Being on the front line in the thrift-store world has enabled them to help many needy families whose stories have touched them.

Allen said a grandmother from Browning who is raising her four grandchildren was brought to tears when he gave one of the children a bicycle.

“They have such limited resources, and her granddaughter wanted the bicycle,” he recalled. “I just took it on myself to say, ‘Let’s try it on for size. You can take it if you give it a good home.’ The grandma was in complete tears.

“The change in me started when I saw what a 10-dollar bike could do to impact lives,” he said.

He remembered another time when he counseled a 25-year-old man who was going through a divorce.

“I’ve had ministerial training, and I’ve got a minister’s heart,” Allen said. “He was having a hard time ... I did my best to comfort and give him advice.”

Three months later the same young man, who had taken his advice to heart, was reconciling with his wife and needed money for bus fare to meet her in Oregon. The Christophersons emptied their coin jar on the counter — their “Building and Benevolence Fund” — to give him money for the trip.

Store hours at Garden of Eden have been trimmed back to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday to allow the Christophersons to sell down their inventory and prepare for closing the store.

The business operates with 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Anyone wanting to financially contribute to Garden of Eden or share information about possible retail space can call Allen at 314-0726.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.