Five days a week, volunteer Larry Buyers jumps in his car and makes the 43 mile drive from Half Moon Bay to our ReStore in San Jose. As customer service and procurement volunteer, Larry enjoys improving the ReStore’s customer experience in store and online. Larry volunteers by posting up to 100 items online daily on sites like Craigslist and apps like OfferUp. “Larry’s commitment has positively impacted our ReStore by increasing the number of new customers we see,” said Oscar Tovar, ReStore San Jose Manager. “Each new customer that finds us because of Larry’s posts are helping us build more Habitat homes in the community. We couldn’t do it without volunteers like Larry!”
Larry first heard of Habitat was when he and his church volunteered on a construction site building. He admits that the construction site took its toll, “I barely lasted a day out there.”
Although volunteering on the construction site was not for him, Larry still wanted to give back Habitat’s mission and help create homeownership opportunities to those in need. His past work in the San Jose community encouraged him to reply to an ad he saw online for volunteers at Habitat ReStore in San Jose. He met with ReStore staff and instantly felted connected to the store and ReStore’s mission.
Larry has been a volunteer for ReStore for over a year and we could not be more thankful! Just last month, 75% of the ReStore’s sales were from new customers! Larry finds pride in knowing he is helping these new customers find our store and making an impact on Habitat’s mission.
With volunteers like Larry who help at our ReStore, Habitat is able to build more than homes, we can build communities. Join our wonderful team of volunteers today!
Good job, Larry!