2023 ReStore ReUse Contest Winners Announced

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Congratulations to the winners of our 12th annual ReStore ReUse Contest! Thanks to all entrants for sharing your creativity and talent for a chance to win.

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2023 ReUse Contest Now Open

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Now through September 30, residents can show off their creativity and talent for a chance to win in the 12th annual ReStore ReUse Contest contest. Fabulous furniture make-overs, remarkable renovations, or unique yard art…if you recently took on a DIY project using predominantly reused building materials, we want to know.

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Blue Ridge Service Corps Spotlight: Natalie McNally

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Over the last six months that Natalie has been apart of our Decon team, she has learned how to extract cabinets and granite tops while keeping them intact, disconnect light fixtures and ceiling fans from both the electrical and mounting brackets, disconnect waterlines from sinks and drains, and more.

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Community benefits from ReStore Shoppers’ Generosity

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When you shop at the Asheville Habitat ReStores, you support more than Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and affordable housing. You also have the opportunity to contribute to the work of a wide range of non-profit organizations meeting myriad community needs. In 2022, thanks to the generosity of shoppers who chose to “round up” at the registers, $24,627 was raised and donated to 10 local non-profits and 2 Habitat for Humanity disaster response efforts. 2022 beneficiaries were:

  • BeLoved Asheville
  • MLK Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County
  • All Souls Counseling Center
  • Habitat for Humanity’s Ukraine Emergency Response
  • United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County
  • Blue Ridge Pride
  • Woodson Branch Nature School
  • Sistas Caring 4 Sistas
  • Asheville P.E.A.K. Academy
  • Eblen Charities
  • ABCCM Veterans Restoration Quarters
  • Habitat for Humanity of Florida: Disaster Relief (Hurricane Ian)

SistasCaring4Sistas co-founder Nikita Smart shared, “When we have unrestricted funding like the Register Roundup it allows us to go the extra mile with our families. This is important to us, but also the families we serve, especially when they feel they have nowhere else to go or local agencies are out of funding, or the need is something they don’t fund. Myself as well as the rest of the team at Sistas Caring 4 Sistas, thank you deeply for the donation, and dedication to the work we do.”

“The ReStore offers a unique opportunity for Habitat to use its platform to support others doing work that intersects with affordable housing- including healthcare, education, disaster relief and community development,” said Scott Bianchi, Manager of the Asheville Habitat ReStore. “Asheville Habitat provides the mechanism, but it’s the generosity of our shoppers who make this program successful. All those small incremental donations – 10, 30, 65 cents – they add up to big change.”

Implemented in 2019 to support other non-profits serving our community, the Round Up program raised $11,717 that first year. Since its inception, thousands and thousands of small sub-$1 donations have cumulatively raised nearly $80,000.

To see the breadth of the Round Up program’s 2022 impact across the community, click here.

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2022 ReStore ReUse Contest Winners Announced

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Congratulations to the winners of our 11th annual ReStore ReUse Contest! Thanks to all entrants for sharing your creativity and talent for a chance to win.

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Volunteer Spotlight: Joe Young

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Joe Young sitting at his desk next to his current sewing machine repair project.

Joe at his desk next to his current repair project.

In November 2021, volunteer Joe Young offered to help combat a growing problem under the Asheville ReStore: sewing machines were piling up in the basement. Despite having minimal experience with the machines, Joe pivoted from large appliance repair and set to work. Today, he is a seasoned sewing machine repairman putting his love for fixing and maintaining tools into a new passion. We sat down with Joe on National Sewing Machine Day to talk about his volunteer work, history, and, of course, sewing machines. Learn more in the video below.

 

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ReStore Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Justice and Lou Towson

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Part-time volunteers and full-time friends, together Anne Justice and Lou Towson sort, curate, and price the enormous volume of jewelry that passes through the ReStore.

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Blue Ridge Service Corps Spotlight: Evan Johnson

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Evan has spent the past nine months as a member of the ReStore’s Deconstruction team, a group of Asheville Habitat staff and volunteers that extract reusable building materials like kitchen cabinets, appliances, and bath installations prior to demolition or remodeling.

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13 Non-Profits Helped by Generosity of ReStore Shoppers in 2021

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When you shop at the Asheville Habitat ReStores and round up your purchase to the nearest dollar, you don’t just support one non-profit, Asheville Habitat– you contribute to the work of a wide range of NPOs meeting myriad community needs. In 2021, thanks to the generosity of shoppers, $25,411 was raised through the Asheville Habitat Register Round Up program and donated to these thirteen non-profits:

  • ABCCM Veteran’s Quarters
  • American Red Cross of WNC
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC
  • Community Action Opportunities
  • Eagle Market Streets Development Corp.
  • Habitat for Humanity Guatemala
  • Haywood County Schools Foundation
  • Homeward Bound
  • MLK Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness – Western Carolina
  • Our Voice
  • Western Carolina Rescue Ministries
  • Working Wheels

“The ReStore offers a unique opportunity for Habitat to use its platform to support the community in a larger way. Our work is focused on housing, but there are so many agencies doing work that intersects – from transportation and healthcare to disaster relief and community development,” said Scott Bianchi, Manager of the Asheville Habitat ReStore and chair of the ReStore’s Societal Impact Committee. “Asheville Habitat provides the mechanism, but it’s the generosity of our shoppers who make this program successful. All those small incremental donations – 10, 30, 65 cents – they add up to big change.”

Implemented in 2019 to support other non-profits serving our community, the Round Up program raised $11,717 that first year. In 2020, thousands of small, sub-$1 donations from made an even bigger impact with $18,000 raised– even with the Asheville and Weaverville ReStores being closed in April and May due to Covid. Add in the $25,411 from 2021 and the cumulative 3-year total is more than $55,000 raised for area non-profits.

Pam Jaillet, Executive Director of National Alliance on Mental Illness-Western Carolina shared, “Your contribution helps us host local support groups, offer educational presentations, and maintain an office run by volunteers who are in recovery from mental health challenges or who have loved ones with mental health issues. We appreciate your support!”

See below for the Round Up program’s impact across the community in 2021.

2021 Register Round Up Recap

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ReThinking the Holidays

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The holiday season is upon us!  And after rethinking how we do almost everything this past year, many of us now find ourselves rethinking how to do the holidays.  Whether you are staying at home for the first time ever and wondering how to celebrate without gathering, or whether your values no longer align with the traditional consumption and spending-centric holiday model- the ReStore has a few re-thought ideas on how to do the holidays this year… maybe with a little more reuse and home time, and a little less spending and gathering.

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