ReStories
March 2015
Product Donors—
MARCH!
American Heritage
Custom Molding
AmericInn
ASH Flooring
Cherry Creek Inc.
Classic Floors
Cottagewood
Countryside Homes
Dan’s Flooring
Denny’s All Season
Home Care
ECS
Enterprise Machining Co.
Floor to Ceiling
John Fritz Construction
Goodrich Construction
Granny’s Attic
Green Light House
Halvorson Home
Improvement
Kato Engineering
Klink’s Woodworking
& Construction
Lowe’s
Mainstream Cabinets
Mankato Clinic
Mankato Family Homes
MaxLite
Millers Masonry
Oleson & Hobbie Architects
Orderly Quarters
Pneumat Systems
Primrose Retirement
Community
Rooms & Rest Furniture
Sam’s Club
Samp Construction
Scheman Development
Shamp Painting
Surface Specialists
Andrew Theissen
Construction
Brian Tscherter Plumbing
Thurber Construction
Vintage Fine Homes
Wilcon Construction
Greg Wilmes Remodeling
The ReStore is Open to the Public!
Tuesday— Friday 10AM-6PM
Saturday—10 AM-4:30PM
Mission Statement
Capital Campaign – So Close!
1: Embody HFH mission to eliminate
poverty housing
Every day, we get asked “When does
the new building go up?” We are hopeful that
the answer is “this summer!”
2: Financially Support HFH of South
Central MN.
3:Promote environmentally sustainable
practices in the community.
Volunteer SpotlightMarsha Guibbert
Out of the blue describes Marsha
Guibbert’s appearance at the ReStore as
well as her work. When she’s not working
as a Safety Manager at Delta Air Lines,
Marsha decided it would be fun to help at
the ReStore. In a very short time, Marsha
learned everything the ReStore has to offer,
from accepting donations in the back to
ringing up purchases in the front.
“I enjoy helping out at the
ReStore,” Marsha said quickly, “it’s a nice
change of pace from my regular job.” She
then had to run help a customer.
Marsha grew up in Apple Valley,
MN as the second of three children. She
went on to college at St. Cloud State
University where she graduated with
degrees in International Relations and
French.
She spent a year studying abroad
in the south of France and that cemented
her love of traveling abroad. She enjoyed
her experience so much she lived in France
for a year after graduation. When she
returned to the states, she began her
career with Delta as a flight attendant in
1996
Later, when she’d slowed down a
bit, she added, “A lot of things go into
making the ReStore run. I had no idea!”
One piece of good news is that an
anonymous donor gave us a gift valued at
$740,000. However, it will take a couple of years
for that to be in our bank account. It is by far the
largest gift we’ve ever received and we are
incredibly grateful for their generosity.
Other donations continue to come in as
well. We walk a fine line between investing in
our new ReStore and continuing to fund our
mission of building affordable housing. We
always want to make sure we can provide our
opportunity to some of our community
members.
Our growth continues to be spectacular.
So far this fiscal year, we’ve seen massive growth
in the number of donations we’ve received and
customer transactions conducted.
We expect this summer to be better
than ever. All of the builders we talk to are
already busy, which means we’ll be even busier
this summer. We know the new building can’t
come soon enough, but we’ll try to remain
patient. In the meantime, THANK YOU to
everyone who has donated to our campaign.
Howard Mock & Gary Pfeifer present a
$7,000 check to our campaign from the
Mankato Opry Christmas Show
Thank you to our donors for helping us grow!
Anne Chesley Herlihy Trust
Marsha
slows down
enough for a
picture!
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Coloplast
Kiwanis Holiday Lights
Land O’ Lakes
Special Donors
& Partners!
 Julie Storm- Web Design
 John Cross– sharing his
Mankato Iron & Metal
Habitat ReStore—
1751 Bassett Drive— Mankato MN 56001
Mankato Opry Christmas Show
Radio Mankato
(507) 388-6682— [email protected]
www.HabitatRestoreMankato.org
To donate to our Capital Campaign,
contact Sue Kennedy Ostendorf
at (507) 388-2081.
Facebook– ReStore Mankato
incredible work
 Miller’s Modern Garage–
special repair help
 MN Valley River Builders
Association—general love
and support
 AllOver Media–
promotional support
 MRCI, MVAC, Blue Earth
County, MN State
University, Mankato and
South Central College—
staffing support
Did you know…
Since opening in June
2007, the Mankato
ReStore has kept an
estimated 925 tons of
building materials out
of local landfills!
Message from the Manager
I’ve always contended that if we, the ReStore, can survive from Thanksgiving until St.
Patrick’s Day, we’ll be OK. Mainly, it’s pretty simple– everything slows down in the winter. For us,
especially, nobody wants to bring in big donations when it’s –20 out.
We’ve been very fortunate this winter to have had mild weather. It’s been very evident in
our traffic patterns, both customer and donor. We are packed to the gills with great merchandise and
are even struggling to fit some of it in most of the time!
I was talking with one of our long time volunteers, Charlie Buley (he was on the register the
day we opened) about the changes. We were in firm agreement– slow ain’t what it use to be! All we
could do was give a wry smile at how we’ve changed.
BUT! I had to be sure it wasn’t my imagination! Our first January, 2007 had a whopping 392
customer transactions and 40 donations. Last month, January 2014, saw 1,389 transactions and 131
donations. In our first year, we had three (3) individual days with more than 50 transactions. Last
year, we averaged 63 per day and had 16 days in January with more than 50.
It’s good to know I’m not crazy. It’s even better to see our growth. Thanks to everyone who
has helped make our crazy ride possible!
Fred Snyder, ReStore Manager
Best Picture Ever?!
In mid-January, Habitat for Humanity dedicated a home to
a local family in Eagle Lake. Mankato Free Press photographer, John
Cross, captured this image of two twin sisters playing in their new
room. If anyone wants to know why we do what we do, here it is.
In the ReStore, we sometimes forget that selling a used
toilet can lead to something much bigger. Thanks John (and Emma &
Bella!) for reminding us that we change lives for the better!
Upcoming DIY Events
Saturday, March 28, 2015 @ 11:00 AM—
Spring Fun
Saturday, April 18 , 2015 @ 11:00 AM—
Earth Day
All DIY classes are FREE!
ReStore guests shared
the love at our DIY day
in February!
Guests learned how to
transfer images onto
tile for fun and
inexpensive projects
like this!