Everyone has something to offer. One of the many incredible aspects about working at The Green Chair is discovering the different gifts and talents each volunteer brings in.  We rely heavily on our volunteers and would not be who we are without them!  So many people come in, look at our donations, and make beautiful things out of them.  Each volunteer brings something different to the table, and with each contribution, they make The Green Chair Project a little bit more complete.

We have one volunteer who saw our bath towel, curtain, and soap donations,  and decided to make something wonderful out of them. Now every client who needs bath towels walks away with a beautiful basket like one of these:

We also have volunteers who take sheets, blankets, and comforters, and put them together to design bedroom sets. They have amazed us with their creativity!

Some other volunteers looked at our kitchen donations, and decided to make a system for kitchen packs. Clients can get a full set of dishware, pots and pans, and napkins.

Would you believe that this lamp used to look dull and unattractive? One of our volunteers repainted it for us, and gave it some Green Chair Spirit!

We have a new volunteer who started coming to The Green Chair a few weeks ago. On her first day here, we asked her what she liked to do.  She told us that she wasn’t really sure if she had a talent to offer us, but she would think about it. We asked her to start by sorting some silk flowers. Within an hour, beautiful arrangements like this one started showing up in our showroom!

Because of her unique talent, we now have flower arrangements to offer clients when they come in to rebuild a home.

That is part of the magic of the Green Chair. Everyone comes in with their specific gift, and we are changed for the better because of it. How could we manage without the volunteers who are willing and able to repair furniture, paint walls, make signs, wash linens, pick up recycling, or the ones who work tirelessly to organize all our data and information? Or if we didn’t have volunteers to sort donations, organize the warehouse and test electronics?

Everyone has something- where do you fit?  Do you like to organize? We are always getting donations that need to be sorted and organized. Do you like design and arrangement? We are always moving around and rearranging our showroom. Do you like to bake? Last month, Jackie’s neighbor baked some cookies for our volunteers because “that’s what she could do to help”.   Our volunteers are in the business of making beautiful things. We’d love to have you join the team!

If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up under our volunteer tab.

Our first clients from The Arc were a young married couple. They are transitioning into a new place, and were able to get all the things they needed, including a coveted item: a double recliner couch! They were also able to get  a beautiful wooden dresser, a computer desk, and a new bed spread- all in the same place! They were a delight to work with, and had good taste- they tied all their colors together. We were so glad to meet them, and hope their furnishings from The Green Chair help to make their new house a home.

Here is a little bit more information from Mike Brown, a case manager from the Arc of Wake County.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for your partnership, Arc of Wake County. We look forward to working with you much more!

On Thursday, we were lucky enough to have our sale catered by PieBird. It was delicious and definitely enjoyed by the 100 plus people we had in attendance!

Beth, Bryan, and Jackie Hard at Work

Vintage and Antique Pieces Artfully Arranged by our Volunteers!

Our "All Things Green" Section

For those of you who haven’t heard, our move has been postponed to the last week in November. We will be opening at our new location December 1st. 

Because of this set back, we are thrilled to announce that we will be having another sale, November 12, from 9-5!  Those of you who have been wishing you came to our last sale, or regretting not buying that adorable vintage item- now is your chance!

We hope to see you all there!

This Thursday, October 6, The Green Chair is hosting an exclusive moving preview sale from 6-9. The cost is $10 at the door. Come for a fabulous night out, complete with delicious food from Pie Bird  and first dibs on some  amazing pieces of furniture! We mean it when we say amazing- we will be selling some great vintage finds, antiques, lamps, artwork, and accessories!

This beautiful sofa is one of our many sale items. Like most pieces at The Green Chair, it has a special story.

It was donated to us by one of our wonderful volunteers. She told us she had an antique sofa, but wasn’t sure if it was in good enough condition to be donated. The next thing we knew, she had it reupholstered  and brought it in for us! We are calling it a “like- new antique sofa”. Does that sound like too much of a paradox? Come see it for yourself- you won’t be disappointed!
It’s not too early to start thinking about the holidays- Christmas is right around the corner! Why not get a jumpstart on your decorating with some vintage Christmas ornaments and a classic suitcase to match?

We love these embroidered “his and hers” pillowcases.  They would be a welcome gift for any couple!

Keeping up with our name, at The Green Chair we love to find new uses for old things. There are lots of items for sale that can be repurposed in a fresh and unique way!

Wouldn’t this hamper make a great magazine rack? For $20, it could be yours!

We’re selling this lovely picnic basket. Use for a fun day out, or as a creative coffee table!

All of this and so much more is waiting for you at our furniture sale this week! You can RSVP for our event on Facebook. If you cannot make it on Thursday, we are open Friday and Saturday, October 7th and 8th, from 10-5. We hope to see you there!

It was Monday, April 18 after the tornados rolled through Raleigh 2 days prior.  I received a call on my cell phone from the Director of the Salvation Army, Christine.  Although we had never met, she had heard about the Green Chair Project and wanted to see if we would be willing to partner with the Salvation Army to help refurnish the homes of so many who had just suffered losses.  I quickly explained to her that we had no experience with disaster relief but she assured me that we were really quite uniquely suited to rise to the challenge.  Well, with their help and God’s provision, we surely did.  The empty warehouse attached to the space we were renting, quickly became a community donation center for everything from water, food, clothing and diapers to furniture and toiletries.  Supplies and volunteers poured in to our warehouse and back out to the community as band-aids for the horrific devastation left by the tornados.

Early on the first morning that our efforts began, I pulled up to the Green Chair to open up the building and there was already a man waiting in his pick-up truck in the parking lot.  He explained to me that he had been a flood victim in years past and so many had helped him that he decided to drive from his home in Goldsboro that morning to help out the tornado victims in Raleigh.  As I took him in the warehouse, he helped me turn on the lights and open the loading dock doors that we had never done before in the unoccupied space.  He asked if we had a forklift.  You see, Mike was a licensed forklift driver and he was pretty sure that we would need one since we were expecting several large deliveries of supplies throughout the day.  ”Mike, as you saw, I barely know how to turn on the lights in this warehouse, yet alone have a forklift!”  And, just as I finished saying that, Mike and I saw a truck pulling up to our warehouse with not just one, but two forklifts on it.  ”Mike, this is just how things happen at the Green Chair.  As soon as we find we have a need, a solution always appears.”  And that’s how things roll at the Green Chair everyday!

Uniquely qualified volunteers like Mike have come along so often.  We have regular-as-clockwork volunteers who are so loyal to show up 2 and 3 times a week and volunteers who drop in every now and then…..but all make an impact and help us achieve some amazing results. Can you imagine cleaning, sorting, organizing and moving donations to make up 50 households?  Well that’s what we’ve been up to since April 16th – that averages out to furnishing almost one complete household a day.

The ReBuild Raleigh Team: The Green Chair Project & The Salvation Army

Since those April tornados, Beth and I have gone from part-time hours to very full-time hours to manage the 4,000+ volunteer hours, nearly 500 furnishings donations, and continue to serve the agencies we partnered with prior to the tornado.    God’s plans for the Green Chair are big – and we are sure of that because we are watching these plans unfold for the Green Chair that are so much grander than we ever imagined them to be.  There is a great need in this community for what this project accomplishes and we expect that this “new normal” will continue on even after the tornado relief work is done. So, please forgive us for phone calls not returned on time, thank you notes not quite completed yet, and mistakes we might make along the way.  We’re learning to adjust to this new pace and even hiring some help to help us keep up.  But what continues to energize us the most, is the great amount of heart and enthusiasm our community has shown by wanting to donate and volunteer and help support our tornado-stricken neighbors.  Your time, furniture donations, and dollars are helping them receive a jump start to new lives with furnishing assistance from The Green Chair Project. It’s exciting to watch for all the good that happens after the storm is gone!

Booth at the ReUse Conex

It’s at the  Hilton North Raleigh. Be sure to stop by our booth!

http://formandfunction-raleigh.com/index.php/ffr_blog/comments/decorating_for_a_cause/

Each of the pieces of furniture that they received had stories too…..a recliner that had just been donated by a woman whose mother had just passed away and she wanted a worthwhile place for it to go…a dresser from a family whose father had just been moved to a nursing home. Sometimes it’s so hard to part with things that we have a history with and that almost seem like part of the family. But somehow, just knowing that it becomes a treasure to someone who might otherwise be without, makes it just a little easier to let go of.
If you might be thinking of parting with a little history from your home, please consider the life that it might help change. Contact us at donate@thegreenchair.org