“The guy who started this company started with a red truck and a garage. He was just a regular guy. He passed on a few years back, but from hearing from people when I first started here, how far this company has come, from the point of being a small truck in the garage, and now we have this facility here. We have two thrift stores that are just thriving. We also have woodworkers that come in and volunteer their time and build things, and anything that they can fix, they’ll fix it. It’s pretty amazing.
And it’s amazing what little things can do for somebody. Like a table is out of this world, or a couch. On my first delivery, I met this kid and we were giving him his first bed at eight-years-old. We take it for granted. And it’s crazy because now the kids can come in and pick out their own beds. People just want something solid. I like just thinking about the significance of the pieces. Think about the couch in your family’s living room, or about the table that your grandmother cooks at. Those pieces are part of those memories, right? And we should care for those pieces as if they are.
Sometimes we get to a place to pick up a donation from someone and when we get there, it’s hard for them to let it go because it belonged to a grandparent or a great aunt, and sometimes they’ll hold on to it a little longer. We understand. I’ve gone to a place before where a lady had a rocking chair. Her great grandmother had it and now she had grandchildren too. It’s just little things like that give people an opportunity to think about it more before they discard or donate it.
When they do donate, I want people to understand what they’re doing is actually helping families that are really in need, that can’t afford these kinds of items at the time. They’re actually taking a burden off and lifting them up.”
– Rob Hall is the Operations Field Trainer for the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, a nonprofit dedicated to providing gently used furniture to families in need. They’re actively working to furnish 500 homes through their Adopt a Family program, giving hundreds of local families the dignity and comfort they deserve.