A Day in the Life...

from Shawnee Life - February 2023

Volunteer Programs at Mercy Health!

by Benji Bergstrand, ReStore Manager

The first thing Rick Kabara does when he sits down at his desk at the Lima ReStore each morning, after grabbing a cup of coffee of course, is check his e-mail, his voicemail and online donation pick-up requests. “We have several different ways people can request a donation,” Rick says. “I try to get people scheduled as quickly as possible.” Donations are vital to the ReStore’s mission of raising funds for Habitat for Humanity. “Without donations we can’t build homes,” Rick explains. “Donations are our largest source of income. If I don’t do my job, everything suffers.”

Donors who schedule online at www.restorelima. org have the luxury of choosing a convenient time slot from the available slots on the pick-up calendar. Donors who call or stop by the store will speak to Rick who sees customer service as an essential part of his job. “Our donors are the key people in our organization and we treat them as well as we possibly can,” Rick says. “You want them to have a pleasant experience. Then they’ll talk to their friends and family and the donations grow.”

As Rick is grabbing his first cup of coffee and beginning to contact donors, Stevie Seymour and Tom Snyder, the ReStore donations team, are hard at work checking over the ReStore truck and the route they will drive that day as they pick up the donations. “My job wouldn’t matter if it weren’t for the good work Stevie and Tom do,” Rick is quick to point out. “They are the face of the organization to our donors.”

After all the checks are done, Stevie and Tom hit the road. Life “on the road” has its share of challenges and Stevie, with five years of experience on the ReStore truck has just about seen it all. From weather related challenges to dealing with traffic and crazy drivers, he has learned to stay focused on the bigger purpose. “I just keep it calm,” Stevie says. “When we pick up donations we’re really building houses. That’s the mission.” Tom is motivated by the idea that the donations team are representatives of Habitat for Humanity and the ReStore. “One of the biggest compliments we ever got was, ‘You guys represent the ReStore well’, because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” Tom explained.

At the donor’s house, Stevie and Tom work quickly and carefully to load the donations. In the course of any given day the donations team sees a wide variety of donation. “At residences we will get donations from appliances to furniture to home décor or really just about anything,” Stevie says.

To illustrate that point, the team recently returned from U.S. Plastics with several tons worth of plastic cutting boards. “We don’t take everything,” Kabara says with a laugh. “But if we think we can sell it, we’ll give it a try.”

Back at the store volunteers and staff team up to unload, clean and price the donations. Donations like upholstered furniture need to be sterilized, while electrical items need to be tested. Once it is ready the donation is moved to the sales floor where it will wait for that special customer to come in and buy it. The proceeds from that sale go to help Habitat build a home for a deserving family in the area.

After all the donations have been unloaded, the donation team will reconvene in Rick’s office to share stories from the road and strategize for the coming day. Keeping the ReStore donations flowing is not an easy job, but it is one with satisfying rewards. “Our work puts people in homes,” Rick points out. “We want other people to have a safe, decent home the same way we do.”

Many people know that Habitat for Humanity builds homes for deserving families who don’t have adequate housing, but beyond that there is one big misconception about how Habitat does their work. Contrary to what many people think, Habitat doesn’t give away houses. It’s the idea of giving a hand up instead of a hand out. Habitat homeowners will pay a mortgage that is tailored to their financial situation. Habitat also helps set up partner families for success by not requiring a down payment and not charging interest.

Habitat partner families are chosen through a rigorous process that involves determining their level of need and assessing their financial situation to ensure they can be successful in the partnership. Partner families are also expected to put in what is called “sweat equity” hours where they help build their own home. If anyone is physically unable to work on a build site Habitat makes accommodations such as allowing people to volunteer at the ReStore.

Partner families benefit from their new home in more ways than many people realize. The children of homeowners are more likely to graduate high school and college than they otherwise would be. Homeowners also have better physical and mental health. In addition they are more likely to vote and participate in community organization. The work of Habitat leads to stronger families and stronger communities.

If you would like to join Habitat in this important work or if you know of a family who might be interested in becoming a partner family visit www.habitatlima.org or call 419-222-4937 for the Habitat offices and call 419-222-4257 for ReStore.

At Cenovus, we are committed to creating positive impacts and to making people’s lives better. In Lima, that means safely and responsibly producing products we use in our daily lives, and strengthening our community as a trusted partner.