Briar’s Baby Boutique, a consignment store, and adjacent Kid Thrift on First Street W. in Polson are shops for people who have children or grandchildren. While they’re home to an immense range of clothes, shoes and furniture, the two businesses offer much more than excellent sources of kid goods.

Both stores support Fostering Mission Valley Families, a nonprofit that grew out of a need Annette Schiele saw “over the counter.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried when someone left the store,” Schiele said.

Her customers include families and kids who need help – tangible help – in the form of clothes, food, shoes and coats.

In 2025, Schiele decided to turn that community need into a nonprofit endeavor.

“In January I was looking to sell because doing it all alone was too much,” she said. “So collaborating with customers who were foster parents and learning about the need in the community, we formed a board.”

They hired an attorney, incorporated with the state of Montana last June, and held their first fundraiser in July. Still, she says, it took until February to get fully approved as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Fostering Mission Valley Families focuses on providing respite care, backpacks and urgent needs, as well as clothing, for foster, kinship and adoptive families.

According to Schiele, many times kids are removed from their situation with only the clothes they’re wearing. Scared and apprehensive, they show up at a foster home. FMVF has put together backpacks containing pajamas, outfits, new underwear, and a toy, book, or stuffed animal to help kids adjust to a new home. Kid Thrift has a closet organized with these ingredients so backpacks can be filled in a hurry, and FMVF gives away 2-6 each month.

FMVF also began selling $20 punch cards to private businesses and individuals, which are then distributed to Helping Hands, Loaves and Fish, Children’s Protective Services, both hospitals, and the schools to distribute to families who can use them.

“It’s been a big community outreach for this area,” Schiele said. Businesses, churches, and neighbors donate to these punch cards, which serve as gift certificates at Briar’s Boutique or Kid Thrift, where clothing sells for just $1 apiece. New clothes make a kid feel better, and it helps foster families outfit their charges, says Schiele.

The organization also provides respite care for providers so they can get the rest they need without guilt or financial strain. “This support could be the difference between burnout and longevity in foster care,” according to the FMVF website.

In addition, FMVF offers monthly drop-in childcare and supervised holiday activities for kids. The organization also helps with specialty care equipment and kids’ furniture and gear, such as strollers or front packs.

How it all began

Kid Thrift and Briar’s Boutique were launched in 2022, when Schiele was helping Jeannie French at The Purple Wildflower, and Jeannie’s daughter, Jonta, had a new baby. French and Bobbie Goldberg from Second Nature Gifts and Goods suggested Annette and Jonta launch a kids' consignment shop, because neither of their businesses had room for children’s wear.

“So we looked into it, the doors opened and we walked in,” Schiele said. “It’s been great. We’ve put over $100,000 dollars back into the pockets of our consigners.”

At Briar’s Boutique, those who consign items get 50 percent of the price when it sells, and many turn that into store credit to buy the next size up. Since becoming a non-profit, the other 50 percent has gone to FMVF.

Clothes that are donated fill the racks and shelves at Kid Thrift, where everything sells for a dollar.

“We have customers who come from Kalispell and Missoula specifically to shop at the boutique and the thrift,” Schiele said.

Next on Schiele and her board’s list is a socks and underwear drive. Items that are new and packaged may be dropped off at Briar’s Baby Boutique, 307 First St. West in Polson from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Fridays.

To learn more about FMVF go to fostering-mission-valley-families.square.site or Fostering Mission Valley Families on Facebook.

    Kid Thrift offers apparel for children, all priced at $1. The store helps bargain-minded shoppers as well as foster families in the Mission Valley. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)