by Marty Brown
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 19/97) - Residents planning to drop by the Storefront for Volunteer Agencies offices on Franklin Avenue should think again.

After 17 years in the Bromley Building, Storefront staff has packed up and moved to the top floor of the Roman Empire Building on the corner of 51st Street and 51st Avenue.

The agency that fronts more than 300 volunteer groups in the city made the move to streamline its operation.

"We're still operating out of boxes, but it's business as usual," said executive director Denise Bekkema.

So far Storefront has rented space to AIDS Yellowknife, Foster Families, Festival of the Midnight Sun and the Northern Film Society.

Storefront's own offices are just down the hall and contain two meeting places and a reference book library.

But there are also three empty offices, one which is being held for a venture Bekkema hopes to get started soon.

"We plan to start up a Youth Volunteer Corps," said Bekkema. "That's a volunteer placement agency for kids between 12 and 18."

The plan is that kids can gain experience and test career choices before making a commitment. If teens are planning a medical career, they would be placed at the hospital, she said.

The office spaces look a little bare right now, but within the next week, all the furniture should be in place, she said.