For many area residents who have been impacted by the damage Sandy stirred up along the Jersey coast, making ends meet has meant turning to local thrift stores for used furniture and appliances to supply their homes or rentals. For Lenny and Debbie Pytlewski, who are renting in the Ocean Acres section of Manahawkin after suffering from 4 feet of floodwater on the first floor of their waterfront home in Mystic Island, picking up furniture from Habitat for Humanity of Southern Ocean County’s ReStore resale outlet, located on Route 9 in West Creek, has been a humbling yet economical endeavor.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Volunteers are busy retrieving donations to give to family's effected by Hurricane Sandy. |
“We’ve always donated to Habitat, but this is our first time now on the receiving end. You don’t realize how much stuff you need until you lose it,” Debbie remarked as she handed Liz Barulic, ReStore’s store manager, a $100 donation the local resident said was “just to help other people.”
“Our rental on Seaspray Road, an ironic name if you think about it, isn’t furnished, and we’re getting this stuff for free,” said Lenny, pointing to the shop’s display of used couches. “It’s awesome because we’re saving so much money we can spend on fixing the house later. Then we’ll donate the furniture right back to the store,” he added.
Barulic said the mostly volunteer-run organization’s main objective at this point is doing just that – providing as much free furniture as possible to the community’s “refugees.” Recipients of the store’s free furniture and appliances are pre-qualified based on what the store manager calls “honesty and decency.” Beneficiaries must be a victim of an impacted area and must have a place to live. Those receiving financial assistance through FEMA may purchase what they need at a discounted price.
“We have to help people get out of shelters, but we can’t give them any furniture unless they have a place to use it,” Barulic explained.
For those looking to donate furniture, hardware items or building materials, Barulic suggested calling the store at 609-978-6200. If the donations are in good condition, the shop’s truck service will pick them up free of charge. Anything sitting under a tarp or damaged by the storm will not be accepted, and someone must be home to direct the truck drivers.
“People shouldn’t worry about the furniture being used. Anything you purchase from a store is used as soon as you sit on it," Barulic clarified.
Since the storm, she said, the drivers have gone on five to six pickups a day, retrieving four or five items from each. Many of Sandy’s victims have been welcoming the influx of objects, including some of the shop’s own volunteers.
“It’s difficult to know what’s happened, so we try to comfort and pray for those people,” said Joan Malara, a ReStore volunteer from Peahala Park who’s renting in Barnegat with her sister after their house suffered a large amount of water damage. “We’ve lost a lot, but other people have lost everything. So when donations come in, we clean them up and get them out on the floor. We help whoever comes in with whatever they need regardless of our own situations. The community needs us right now,” she added.
The organization is also giving away holiday trinkets and displays for free, or selling them at a reduced price.
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| Photo by Jack Reynolds Furniture is only being offered to those that have a place to return to. |
“No child should go without a Christmas in such a crisis,” Barulic stated.
According to Greg Muszynski, director of operations at Habitat for Humanity of Southern Ocean County, the faith-based organization is looking into working on critical home repairs for people within the community who need help gutting and renovating their homes. Plans to build or “rehab” other homes are in the process of discussion with other Habitat organizations along the coast and members of the international organization that has helped rebuild in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area in 2005.
“This is no different than what happened in New Orleans or 9/11, only the terrorist this time was Sandra,” said Kathy Duffy, a three-year volunteer at ReStore.
“The volunteers here are goodhearted and sincere in their mission,” added Barulic. “I can’t give them enough praise. They make me look good,” she added.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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