ReStore Te Awamutu manager Claire Harris outside the shop.
ReStore Te Awamutu is calling for contactless donations of goods to sell as it slowly begins to open its doors to carefully orchestrated shop drop offs again.
Residents are being invited to go online to arrange a time to leave second hand goods at the Sloane St store in person.
ReStore Te Awamutu is one of Habitat for Humanity’s roughly 20 charity stores nationwide and proceeds go towards providing housing support for families.
In Te Awamutu, these including funding home repairs, Roche St’s Freeman Court – established by Habitat for Humanity so older people could continue to live independently without the stress of managing a household – and Palmer St pensioner housing.
Habitat for Humanity central region chief executive Nic Greene lauded the contribution ReStore Te Awamutu – which has been running for about eight years – makes.
He said in the last 12 months, ReStore shops nationally had sold 1.25 million items – the central region under which Waikato falls sold 550,000 of those.
ReStore Te Awamutu contributed about 18,000 items.
“We just love being in Te Awamutu,” he said. “When you think about it, that is a sizeable contribution an amazingly supportive community has made.”
Mr Greene said prior to Alert Level 4, ReStore Te Awamutu staff used online Trade Me auctions to compliment sales made at the shop, but had then shifted its processes online to sell only essential items during the month-long lockdown.
ReStore staff and volunteers have set up contactless drop off and quarantine systems even now as the country is at Alert Level 2.
ReStore goods donors wanting to book a contactless drop off can find ReStore Te Awamutu’s details at www.habitat.org.nz/restore.
Donated items should be clean, complete, wrapped or boxed and sorted into separate categories, as if they were packed for moving house.
