The Rotary Burlington North Furniture Project
Rotary Burlington North (RBN) has been actively involved with helping individuals and families living in furniture poverty for the last 2-1/2 years. To date the club has been responsible for addressing furniture poverty for more than 100 families and on average are helping 4-5 households per month. The Rotary Burlington North Furniture Project (RBNFP) is led by Clinton Howell and Kate Johnston (both are past Presidents of the Rotary Club of Burlington North).
Relationships have been formed with a number of not-for-profit organizations that help woman and children leaving abusive relationships, refugee families and indigenous individuals...to name a few. The project is supported with free furniture storage space from Access Storage as well as occasional use of their moving trucks. The Community Services Committee of RBN has approved a budget for RBNFP over the last 2 years which offsets costs of supplies, gas, truck rentals, etc. The project has become an important component of the Club's PR, raising private financial donations for our foundation and also getting support from private donors by way of furniture contributions, both used and new.
It is Rotary Burlington North's goal to inspire and teach other interested clubs how to structure programs like this in their areas and we welcome an invitation to present to your club to share what we have learned and encourage more to get involved. If you are interested, please contact Clinton Howell at 905-537-2246. This project has made a significant life changing impact in our community and it is so heart-warming and meaningful to see our clients get back on their feet with a fresh start ready to move forward. Below are some testimonials from past clients.
"Thank you so much for this experience and for your generosity! I just finished shopping...that was so much fun! It meant the world to me.""I would have left my abusive husband earlier if I had known about services like this.""You are a life saver. I can't thank you enough. I've been a wreck since yesterday." and later when she learned all the furniture was completely free, "Oh wow, really? I might cry. That's amazing. You don't know how thankful I am."
Submitted by Clinton Howell
Rotary Club of Burlington North