Habitat ReStore opens in Darlington
Mark Haenchen, Ex. Director of Darlington County Habitat for Humanity; Habitat board members Bene Brockman, Dick Porter, and Dr. Tom Norrell; Jack Wilson, Shannon Maddox, Heather Jordan of Habitat; Lisa Rock, City of Darlington; and Ben Schmeltz at Grand Opening.
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
The Darlington County Habitat for Humanity opened a second ReStore at 1106 South Main Street in Darlington, and celebrated with a Grand Opening celebration on April 7.
“This is special,” said Mark Haenchen, Executive Director of Darlington County Habitat for Humanity. “This does not normally occur in even large cities to have two ReStores. But our community really supports our mission, and we are thankful for them.”
The ReStore will be open Tuesday thru Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 p.m., and will be run by longtime employees of the Hartsville location, Ben Schmeltz, manager, and Shannon Maddox.
The two ReStores support the Habitat for Humanity mission of building simple, quality homes for hardworking families through sales of gently used home furnishings, appliances, clothing, and more. Each ReStore offers fast and free pickups of used items from homes or businesses in Darlington County. They also offer clothing donation bins located throughout the county.
“We are available to do pick ups in Darlington on Tuesday and Friday mornings,” said Schmeltz. “That is when the Hartsville truck comes over.”
Since Shannon and Ben both worked at the Hartsville location for several years, they have recognized many of the Hartsville customers coming by to visit, and have made new friends quickly at the new location.
Shannon Maddox and Ben Schmeltz of the Darlington ReStore
Photos by Jana E. Pye
A generous donation to Habitat was made the week before the store opened that helped to fill the store- the entire contents of a home were donated after a community member passed away
“That doesn’t happen very often,” said Schmeltz. “We have had rooms donated, but we haven’t had many entire houseful donated. But we are seeing more and more people donate to Habitat after a family member passes away.”
“We have had customers visit from Darlington, Patrick, Hartsville, Dovesville, and Florence,” said Maddox. “It’s always nice to see some of our familiar customers from the Hartsville store come in to see us!”
“The new location is smaller, but has plenty of room for great merchandise,” said Schmeltz. “The one thing we lack is clothing racks and shelves, so if anyone can donate some, we’d certainly appreciate it!”
The new location has had some loyal volunteers already. The ReStores serve as a place for potential homeowners to work out their sweat equity hours required before the purchase of their no-interest home loan.
Bene Brockman, Habitat board member, was pleased by the success the new store has had so far. “It always warms my heart to see how Darlington County has supported this much needed ministry.”
The Darlington County Habitat for Humanity is currently building a home in Darlington on Gandy Dr., and three in Hartsville.
Later this year, Habitat will partner with the City of Hartsvile to build the first-ever home equipped with a sprinkler system.
“The city wanted to do this to honor the four young victims of the tragic house fire in Hartville,” said Haenchen. “We have all been concerned with the recent studies that children do not wake up with fire alarms. We are proud to be building this home that will save lives with a sprinkler system that is activated immediately in the e vent of a fire.”
Donors will receive a tax-deductible receipt. A list of acceptable items for donations can be found on their website. To find out more about Darlington County Habitat’s two ReStores or to volunteer with Darlington County Habitat for Humanity and it’s ReStore, call 843-944-0314 in Darlington, 843-383-8500 in Hartsville, or visit www.darcohabitat.org.
