Today we started our weekly volunteering at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The ReStore is a secondhand store that sells home goods such as appliances, furniture, electronics, and lighting fixtures. All of the goods are donated by members of the community or by local businesses. Proceeds from all sales go to the Habitat for Humanity to fund home repairs and home builds. I contacted the ReStore and organized weekly volunteering for groups of five co-ops on Thursday evenings. The ReStore Manager, Jeff, was so helpful and friendly. This week a local hotel donated dozens of chairs, paintings, and mirrors. We cleaned all of the chairs, applied price tags, and organized the new items in the store. Jeff and the other ReStore staff members were very appreciative of our help and it was great to know what we were really helping them out. Prior to contacting Jeff to organize this, I had seen ReStores but I didn't truly understand their business model. It's such an awesome way for members of the community to give back and benefit other members of the community. Customers of the ReStore are able to find affordable home goods that wouldn't be available without the ReStore. At the same time, Habitat for Humanity is gaining funding that will go towards helping even more families in the community. In the future, instead of searching online for cheap furniture I will definitely check out the ReStore because I know my purchases will benefit someone else, too. |