Ocean State Job Lot Donates PPE To Vernon Responders

VERNON, CT — Vernon's newest major business — Ocean State Job Lot — made a hefty donation of personal protective equipment to local first-responders on Thursday, a week after it opened.

Vernon police officers and fire and emergency officials gathered with government leaders to accept the donation on front of the store.

In all 6,000 face protectors and 40 gallons of sanitizer were donated by Ocean State.

"I am pleased to welcome Ocean State Job Lot to Vernon and appreciate its generous contribution of personal protective equipment to our police officers, volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel," Mayor Champagne said before personally loading the donations in a police cruiser. Champagne himself is a former decorated cop in Vernon.

He added, "It is also great to see Ocean State Job Lot become an anchor store in a very important shopping center here in Vernon. Customers who travel to the new store will very likely be drawn to the other top-notch businesses we have in Vernon."

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

Ocean State Job Lot in the old KMart building in Vernon opened Aug. 27 ahead of schedule. The target date to open had been early fall.

The building is located in a shopping plaza off Route 30 at 295 Hartford Turnpike. Ocean State Job Lot is taking up 40,000 square feet, about half the space of the old KMart. KMart closed in March 2019 amid financial woes experienced by its corporate parent, Sears Holdings.