Rue 21 merchandise to be featured items at ‘free’ shopping day

-McKEES ROCKS-

McKees Rocks Borough is organizing a “free” shopping day for residents using donated items.

Items from Rue 21, which had been stored at the Sto-Ken-Rox Boys & Girls Club, sparked the idea.

A break-in at the club, which is now under control of the McKees Rocks Borough, resulted in council chambers being filled with boxes of shoes, fashion accessories, phone cases and more.

Since moving the product to the borough building, officials have been in contact with a variety of organizations to provide donations of the accessories locally and within the outskirts of the community, LeaAnn Wozniak, borough manager, said. The Rue 21 merchandise will be distributed during an upcoming event and to a variety of churches, daycares and school districts, Wozniak said via email.

Recently, four youth broke into the Deweyville Road building to steal items and vandalize the property, said President Archie Brinza. When the Boys and Girls club relinquished control of the property, they took their security cameras with them, Brinza added.

Additionally, the McKees Rocks Borough Board voted unanimously at its Aug. 9 meeting to remove the playground equipment from the Boys and Girls Club site and transfer it to Rangers Field in the Bottoms. The equipment had been donated in June 2017 by former Pittsburgh Penguin Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

At this time there are no definite plans for the building, according to Brinza.