GIVING BACK

BY ELIZABETH BRIGNAC

When Pepper’s Market in Morrisville closed due to COVID-19 in March 2020, Lindsay Holcombe’s job shuttered along with it. She found herself at loose ends. “I needed something to do to keep me busy,” Holcombe says.

With the help of her family, Lindsay, who has Down syndrome, decided to start a nonprofit to suppot Triangle-based special needs organizations. She called it If You Had Wings, and began building and decorating birdhouses, then offering them to people in exchange for a donation to her nonprofit. In tun, Lindsay offered the money she raised to nonprofit sevice organizations— primarily those that assisted people with mental or physical disabilities. She was inspired by the work of her friend Stephen Todd, who also has Down syndrome and runs a similarly-themed nonprofit, Bluebid Beach Bungalows, in Virginia Beach.

As of March 2022, If You Had Wings has donated $15,325 to nonprofits and sevice organizations such as Esteamed Coffee, Kids Together Playground, Helping Horse Therapeutic Riding and Living With Autism.

Lindsay and her mother, Jackie Holcombe, buy the supplies they need at Lowe’s with family money. Her father, Rick Holcombe, cuts the wood for her, then she uses a nail gun and sander to build the birdhouses. Holcombe’s neighbor, Connie Barnes, makes stencils for her, and Holcombe uses them to paint designs on the birdhouses. Barnes then adds detail work. Each birdhouse is signed at the bottom and comes with a thank-you note attached.

Holcombe displays the birdhouses online at wingsnc.com. Donors can request custom-painted birdhouses and make donations there. She also sets up tables at Triangle Buddy Walk and Art-n-Soul Market, among other venues, and has sold some of her work at Esteamed Coffee in Cary. She is always looking for new venues, and most recently hosted a table at Cary’s Herbfest May 1.

Lindsay delivers birdhouses to anyone who lives in Cary and Morrisville, or donors can opt to pick them up at her home in Morrisville. She only ships birdhouses occasionally.

If You Had Wings donates to organizations approximately once a month. Lindsay selects the organizations that will receive the contributions and writes the donation checks. She also deposits money at the bank and keeps the ledgers for If You Had Wings. “I work so hard,” she says. Jackie Holcombe emphasizes that to every extent possible, Lindsay does the work involved in maintaining the organization.

Originally, Holcombe painted her birdhouses using several preset patterns. Then a friend asked if she could make one with a North Carolina State Wolfpack design. Barnes created a stencil for this custom request and soon, Lindsay’s friend had the Wolfpack birdhouse she wanted.

“That’s when things changed a lot, because then folks requested all kinds of things,” Jackie says. The business has received requests for team sports logos, housewarming-themed birdhouses with the homeowner’s new address, business logos and other unique designs. Barnes makes stencils and helps with detail work as needed. “As best they can, the two of them work together on the painting,” Jackie says.

Lindsay has also built custom birdhouses for specifi fundraising projects. For example, she built a Carolina Hurricanes birdhouse to help raise money for Dorcas Ministries, and asked the coaches to sign it. In a very exciting turn of events, she ended up with a birdhouse that had signatures from the coaches and entire team. She auctioned the birdhouse off and was able to make an even more significant donation to Docas Ministries.

If You Had Wings suggests a minimum $30 donation for a custom-painted birdhouse and a minimum $20 donation for a Lindsay Original.

Supporters of If You Had Wings have reached out to Lindsay from unexpected places. One enthusiastic donor from London sends contributions frequently but has never actually received a birdhouse himself. Instead, he asks Holcombe to give birdhouses to local parks, police houses, firehouses and business colleagues.

If You Had Wings also received a touching donation from a family whose relative, a birdhouse hobbyist, had recently died. When the family heard about Lindsay’s work, they made a point of donating their relative’s building supplies to If You Had Wings in order to keep the tools in the business of making birdhouses.

Lindsay has also shared her birdhouses with a few celebrities. She sent one to Hugh Jackman and another to Tim Tebow. In Tebow’s case, she sent a birdhouse accompanied by a donation to the Tim Tebow Foundation, which serves children with special needs.

If You Have Wings hopes to find moe venues that will host birdhouses and collect donations for the organization so Lindsay and her teammates can continue making the cherished birdhouses. Donations of supplies are also encouraged, since the family purchases those with their own money.

Lindsay does not foresee making any changes to If You Had Wings in the near future. “I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing,” she says. “I’m doing great.”

Learn more at wingsnc.com.

OPPOSITE PAGE Lindsay Holcombe builds and decorates birdhouses and offers them to donors interested in supporting her nonprofit If You Had Wings. THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Lindsay encourages a $20 donation for one of her Lindsay Originals. Her team of helpers includes her parents and her neighbor, Connie Barnes.

Photos courtesy of Jackie Holcombe