Fort Wayne, IN— Carpet remnants and paint cans now adorn the new shelving units at the Muncie Habitat for Humanity Home Discount Center. “We just had carpet pieces leaning up against an ugly old brick wall before Do it Best Corp. gave us these beautiful gondola display systems,” says Bill Koen, store manager. Koen and the Muncie area Habitat for Humanity were recipients of part of the largest donation Do it Best Corp. vendors made following the 2007 Do it Best May MarketSM, held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from May 19-22. Vendors were given the opportunity to donate all or part of their booth displays to Habitat for Humanity at the conclusion of the market and 130 vendors used that opportunity with $232,900 in product donations.
Representatives from 15 Indiana, Ohio and Michigan Habitat affiliates were invited to the May market to receive the merchandise, which was divided into lots of equal dollar value, based on the re-sale market. Items donated included everything from pallets of paper towels and tools to large single objects like bath tubs and vanities. Most affiliates use the donated goods to help stock their Re-Stores, Habitat for Humanity’s thrift stores that sell items to Habitat and other families and whose sales help fund more projects.
Bob Schaad is a board member of the Clinton County Habitat for Humanity (Wilmington, Ohio) chapter. “Our Re-Store has been open about a year and the donations from Do it Best Corp. have been some of the main reasons we’ve been able to make money. They give us new items, which means people have even more reason to shop here. Their donations are helping us build three houses this year.”
Similarly, Ginny Parsons, manager of the Lafayette (Indiana) Habitat Discount Center says they were thrilled to end up with a new round shower and a brand new wood burning stove. “Do it Best Corp. is just so great to us – to all the ReStores. It’s the largest single donation of new items we receive in a year.”
This May market donation was significantly larger than last October’s donation by about 60% and with 25% more vendor participation. In addition to the product donations, Penske Trucks, a partner with Do it Best Corp. for other retail programs, donated ten 24-foot trucks at no cost for a week to help the Habitat staff get the product back to their locations.
Dustin Kaehr, retail programs coordinator for Do it Best Corp., says there is a real spirit of camaraderie about being part of the donation. “I think the vendors responded to seeing the signage on the booths of past participants and wanted to show their commitment, too. We had vendors donating all kinds of items and the Habitat chapters were just overwhelmed with their generosity.”
In 2004, Do it Best Corp. named Habitat for Humanity its corporate cause of choice and partners with Habitat for Humanity throughout the year in many different ways and locations. In this fiscal year Do it Best Corp. and its vendors have given more than $800,000 in cash and product to Habitat for Humanity affiliates throughout the country.
About Do it Best Corp.
Based in Fort Wayne, Ind., Do it Best Corp. is the only full-service, U.S.-based, member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry. With annual sales of $3 billion, Do it Best Corp. is the second largest co-op in the industry, serving 4,100 member-retailers in the United States and in 45 foreign countries. |
