News
July 15, 2022UpCycled Art Auction
At Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County, Inc., we have always looked for ways to raise awareness about our ReStore during our annual fundraising events. More than just a re-sale store, proceeds from the sale of donated items play a big role in helping to fund our mission work of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Efforts to spread the word started by using sofas for comfy seating during several events. Another year local artists were invited to paint used doors that were sold to event attendees. And last year it progressed even further when local creatives were invited to choose items from the ReStore to upcycle, which were then auctioned off to event participants. Bidding wars ensued on many of the one-of-a-kind masterpieces and much money was raised for a good cause! The upcyclers even got to have a fun competition of their own – the maker of the item that sold for the highest percentage increase won a prize. As an added bonus, by repurposing and reusing items, we are able to keep furniture and materials out of landfills. In fact, in 2021 at our Schenectady Habitat ReStore alone, we were able to keep approximately 185 tons of furniture and materials out of the trash!
Because of the popularity of the UpCycled Art Auction and its fun way to showcase what can be done with items found at our ReStore, we are bringing it back to our JAM 2022 fundraiser, which will be held on Thursday, September 1st at Rivers Casino & Resort. If you are a local creative, professional or amateur, who might be interested in redesigning, repurposing, upcycling or transforming items from our Schenectady Habitat ReStore to be auctioned off, please email Kerrie Wolf-Piechota, Director of Resource Development, by Friday, July 29th for more information. Her email address is kerrie@schenectadyhabitat.org. If you aren’t necessarily creative but maybe have numerous episodes of Flea Market Flip saved on your DVR and wish you could have a one-of-a-kind item of your own, visit www.schenectadyhabitat.org/events/jam to buy tickets to the event so you can bid in the auction. Plus, there will be other exciting silent auction items, too.
