McDonalds hash-brown and coffee in stomach, I made my way to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore location early on a Saturday morning. ReStore is both a fantastic little pun as well as the second arm of Habitat for Humanity. While Habitat's main function is building houses for those in need, at ReStore locations, Habitat collects donations of furniture, appliances, and building supplies, and resells them. These sales go into funding future Habitat builds.

We began by reorganizing couches that patrons would see as soon as they entered. It was not something I expected to do at the ReStore, but it forced our group (a collection of Pharmacology students as well as ReStore regulars) to call upon our inner interior designers. The rest of the day, when we weren't helping customers load heavy wares into their trucks, was spent moving merchandise into more presentable positions and moving trash out of the way. This involved the fun yet labor intensive endeavor of breaking down wood pallets by hand.

Overall, ReStore was not an experience I was expecting to have, but I'm glad I had it. It was valuable to see the work that goes into the background of organizing a retail store, as well as everything that goes into enabling Habitat for Humanity's mission.

September community service hours: 11
Total community service hours: 11

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