Gus and Olivia teach teams of volunteers how to build playhouses as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Playhouse Program, but on April 23rd they will be teaching you how to refinish wood furniture at our ReClaim Clinic – an Earth Day celebration sponsored by our friends at CalRecycle!
While Gus and Olivia can build a playhouse in their sleep, they didn’t learn how to build one overnight! These two come to ReStore’s ReClaim Clinic with years of woodworking experience building playhouses, furniture, and life-sized Habitat homes.
Meet Tour ReClaim Clinic Teachers!
Gus Cancro has been a Site Supervisor with our Playhouse Program for six years. But his building repertoire isn’t limited to child-sized houses! Gus has years under his belt of building artisanal furniture, woodworking, designing and installing spaces and lighting environments, and more. He’s also spent years teaching and training students and volunteers, and he’s excited to pass on some new skills to our ReStore community!
Olivia Clarkin is our Playhouse Event Specialist, working with Gus to manage volunteers and Playhouse builds. In addition to this expertise, Olivia brings a breadth of building and teaching experience gained from two years as a Crew Leader on our construction sites, serving through the AmeriCorps program.
What Gus & Olivia Will Teach You:
- How to choose an ideal furniture piece to refinish. Trust us, there is more to it than
just what’s pretty! - How to clean and prepare wood for refinishing. Our tip, leave the sandpaper at home – Gus and Olivia will teach you what materials to use and how to use them, and the best part is that all your materials will be provided!
- Options for sealing, painting, and finishing your piece to fit your aesthetic. Important because not all finishes are created equal!
- How to install fresh hardware. The icing on a wooden cake if you will!
Still have questions after this hands-on workshop? Gus and Olivia will be there to answer all questions after the Clinic to make sure you leave inspired and ready to take on your next DIY project!
How To Meet Gus & Olivia:
Registration may be closed but we will still have some first-come, first-served spots available at all three workshops! Arrive early and check in at the registration table to see if spots are available.
Don’t snag a spot at the clinic? You’re still part of the Earth Day celebration! Join us for an exclusive, 1 day only sale on Saturday, April 23rd! Get 22% off your entire purchase when you share the code phrase “EARTHDAY2022” to the cashier at checkout. It’s like being a member of a secret society with a mission to build a better world!
Why are Gus & Olivia so passionate about reclaiming wooden furniture?
While wood recycling rates have grown in recent years, the amount of wood that still goes into our landfills is a huge problem. In fact, 292 million tons of wood from homes and businesses went to waste in 2018 alone!
So Gus and Olivia want to celebrate Earth Day by teaching our community ways you can refurbish wood rather than trashing it. If refinishing old wood furniture is not your thing, join us on April 23rd to learn how to recycle wood properly to keep it out of our landfills.
Gus, Olivia, and all three Habitat for Humanity ReStores cannot solve the wood waste problem alone. That is why we are honored to have the support of the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). We are honored to have received funding by CalRecycle’s Reuse Grant through California Climate Investments (CCI).
Thanks to this grant, ReStore will be able to increase our capacity to divert usable lumber and wood products, and also raise awareness about wood waste issues and opportunities to divert usable wood from landfills such as our Earth Day ReClaim Clinic.
Click here to learn more about the wood waste problem.