(upbeat music) (graphic pops) - Hello and welcome to Journal.

I'm Steve Kendall.

Their mission is creating a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

And since the early '90s, Habitat for Humanity of Wood County has been doing just that.

Joining us are Mark Ohashi, Robin Swanson, and Sarai Shaneck.

Thank you all for being here, Habitat of Wood County.

Mark, talk about the fact there's a reason why you guys are in business and it's because like a lot of places, pretty much all over the country, there's a housing and rent crisis, people trying to find affordable, decent housing.

So talk about that issue and how it's, what it is in Wood County and how you guys are helping to address it.

- [Mark] Yeah, so what we are seeing is that families are paying more than they can afford on their rental.

Or what we're also seeing is that what they can afford is inadequate in one way or another.

We're looking at, we see health and safety related issues in their current rental situation.

So what we wanna be able to do is to transfer them out of either an unaffordable housing situation or an inadequate housing situation and into a home ownership opportunity that they can afford.

- Yeah.

Now when you look at that, and you guys have been, like I say been building homes since 1993, when you look at a location or you look at a site, you look at a community, are there certain criteria you say, hey, this is a community that needs our service, that needs some new housing stock, that kind of thing.

How do you go about that process of selecting locations and then getting people to get on board to help build things?

- [Mark] Honestly, we want to be able to build and provide affordable housing throughout Wood County.

So whether we're looking at Northwood and Rossford to the north, to North Baltimore to the south, Grand Rapids, Bradner, or Wayne, everywhere.

So we think that there are families who are living in inadequate housing or unaffordable housing throughout Wood County.

And so when we're looking into communities, yes, we're looking for vacant lots, we're looking for maybe landowners who own a lot and maybe they're looking to offload that lot.

They can call us and then we'd be willing to purchase that lot.

We've had success in working with various municipalities and administrations to secure properties that may be in tax foreclosure or that the municipality owns and would like to get that off of their books and then provide housing for their residents.

- Yeah, and it repurposes that property as something that becomes valuable as opposed to sitting there and not being used for a good purpose.

When you look at that and really where we're sitting right now, we're just sort of a block away from three houses you folks have built over the last few years.

And that was an empty lot.

There was not much going on there.

And now there are three single family residences there that people are living in.

Now, when you have a house being built, how do you go about selecting who's the eligible people to maybe then be able to purchase that house or get into home ownership?

How does that all work?

- So what we look at, there are three criteria that we look at when selecting a family.

So the first criteria is they need to demonstrate that they have a need for a Habitat home.

It could be that they're in an overcrowded situation.

It could be that there is some health or safety related issue with the housing that they're in.

It could be that they're paying an exorbitant amount in rent, which we define as anything more than 30% of their household income.

- [Steve] Ah, okay.

- So we determine what their need is for a Habitat home.

The second criteria we look at is what's their ability to pay?

So there's a myth out there that says that Habitat gives away houses.

- [Steve] Yeah, and then.

- We don't give away houses.

- [Steve] Okay.

- Yeah, the families do pay a mortgage, and it's an affordable mortgage.

And so we do a financial review to make sure that they're able to afford the Habitat mortgage.

And then the third criteria we look at is their willingness to partner.

And so the families do come into the program.

They do what we call sweat equity, which comprises of attending home ownership education classes.

They have to complete a financial management certificate.

And then they also have to go and help build their own house, which is a big part of our program as well.

- Right, yeah.

'cause you see all the time, and you guys have a ton of photos on your website and your social media where people are out doing that.

And I know Sarai, from your perspective, you're sort of like the resource development person.

So kind of explain your role in this because obviously that covers a lot of territory.

- [Sarai] It really does.

I wear a lot of hats.

So one of the main things I do is try and find funds to help facilitate - [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] building these homes.

And there's a couple big events that are coming up.

- [Steve] Sure.

- One is happening June 9th.

It's a drone drop at Fallen Timbers.

- [Steve] Ah, okay, yeah.

- [Sarai] People can go to our website and purchase a ticket.

It's $20.

They have an opportunity to win a thousand dollars if their ball lands in the hole or, - [Steve] Oh, okay, yeah.

- [Sarai] close to it.

And they don't have to be there and we'll do a Facebook live stream.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- So it's pretty neat.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- They offered to do that for us.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And then our big signature event this year is - [Steve] Mm-hmm, yeah.

- [Sarai] the Hard Hats and High Heels Gala.

- [Steve] Right.

- [Sarai] And that's a night of elegance and a night of giving back.

So not only are we gonna have fun and do some great things, Mark Wasylyshyn, Sheriff Wasylyshyn will be there again as the emcee and live auction host.

- [Steve] Ah, okay, yeah.

And just keeping everybody in line.

- Oh, absolutely, yeah.

He's just wonderful.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- But we're gonna raise some funds, - [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- to build homes next year.

- [Steve] And we'll get into more detail on that too.

- Sure.

- [Steve] Because that's a big event and there's still plenty of time.

I know you can buy there are tickets online, that kind of thing.

- [Sarai] Yes, yes.

- And I know, you know, Robin, you've got the newest kind of piece of this because you, and we'll talk in in a lot of detail too about this, but you're now, you're the manager of the ReStore, which is at the corner of Brim and Newton in Bowling Green opened just a couple of several months ago now.

So talk about what that's been like, because getting that up and running is probably pretty much a big challenge too.

- [Robin] Yeah, yeah.

I mean, we had great community support in helping us get our feet underneath us.

We've had a great group of volunteers come together.

And not only help us set up the store, but they've also been volunteering to come in and help us run the store as we go.

So I have a great team of cashiers and a great team of people that are helping to bring in donations and get them processed and out on the floor.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Robin] So that's been excellent.

- [Steve] Great.

Yeah, and we'll, like I say, I know we have some visuals.

We'll look at the store from the perspective if you walk in the door what it kind of looks like and all the things you haven't talked about in detail, some of the things you have.

- [Robin] Sure.

- When we come back, we'll talk more with the folks from Habitat for Humanity of Wood County here on The Journal back in just a moment.

Thank you for staying with us on The Journal.

Our guests are Mark Ohashi, Robin Swanson, and Sarai Shaneck from Habitat for Humanity of Wood County.

Mark, we touched on this a little bit in the first segment about the need for housing, you know, dealing with inadequate housing or rents that are, you know, maybe not adjustable for people, but the big thing of course, probably for you guys, and you talked about this is you have to find somebody who has land or a lot that they're interested in talking with you guys about to make available, so you can then take the process of acquiring it and then do what you do after that.

So talk about the challenge for that.

Because obviously people have interest, but it's not a simple process either to some degree.

- So we can't build a house without land.

- [Steve] Yup, okay.

- And so that's one of the big things that we're always looking for.

We have a site selection committee, - [Steve] Oh.

- that is charged with looking into what is available in Wood County.

A lot of times, we'll get a phone call or someone will tell us, hey, just drove by a lot that has a for sale sign, look into it.

And so what we do is we get the phone number and then we'll call that number.

- [Steve] Ah.

- The other way that folks can do it is if they have a lot that they are looking to sell and offload, then they can reach us and then just say I have this lot, and they give us a location or a parcel number, and then we would do the evaluation from that point to ensure that it's a buildable lot.

- [Steve] Right.

- We wanna make sure that we're able to put a Habitat house on it.

It has to fit the size of what we need.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- A lot of times we're looking for double lots, which are side by side lots because every two years, we do what's called a blitz build, where we're able to build two houses simultaneously, - [Steve] Oh, and?

- And have all of that material delivered to one location and to build two houses, there's a really an economy of scale there.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And so that's something that we're always looking for as well.

- Yeah, now, when you mentioned the fact too that, you know, someone may have a lot, it's got a for sale sign on it, but obviously there are details after that, as you talked about.

Is it a buildable lot?

Yeah, you probably have to look at the zoning and see.

And so talk a little about that.

And then too you mentioned the size of the houses you build, because that's of interest to people too.

So when you first get a piece of property, what's the checklist you down?

What's the zoning?

What's this, what's this?

Water, public water, sewer, et cetera, all those sort of things.

- Those are the key things - [Steve] Yeah.

- that we're looking for right now.

We're building with public water and sewer.

We haven't as much been building in areas where we would need to have a well or a septic system, - [Steve] Or a leach field or whatever, sure.

- or anything like that.

So that would be something that we look at.

And the reason for that is just because of cost.

- [Steve] Sure, yeah.

- So we're trying to keep our costs low.

We're looking at probably about .2 to .22 acres for a Habitat lot.

It would fit our three-bedroom home and the driveway and provide a backyard as well.

And then we are also building four-bedroom houses, which we would require a little bit more of a larger lot.

Typically, the frontage that we're looking for is anywhere from 60 feet of frontage, - [Steve] Okay.

- to maybe 66 feet of frontage.

That's the key.

- Yeah, and it makes sense to be a place where you have public water and sewer because less maintenance.

No maintenance is a whole different array when you have private systems like that.

When you talk to people in communities, you probably approach certain communities and say, okay, a couple of people have offered us some land here.

You get the local government involved to make sure that they're on board or understand what's going to happen, that kind of thing, yeah.

- Well, yeah.

And that's one of the great things about working in Wood County is working with the local municipalities.

Some of them have their own water system or electric, and so we're working directly with them.

It's really efficient.

It's just, they're just a phone call away.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- They're excited to have Habitat come in and building in their community.

- [Steve] Sure.

- And obviously building up the community and building up the tax base there so.

- Yeah, because most towns want to grow.

They want to get new inhabitants, new people coming in, build things out, that sort of thing.

Sarai, when you're talking about, you're obviously part of your area is like development, fundraising, that kind of thing so.

- [Sarai] Yes, yes.

- And you mentioned the big event and we'll talk in more detail about that.

But what are some of the other ways you go about getting people involved?

Because obviously a lot of donations when you start to, when you have a project, you go out and must talk to like builders, contractors, suppliers, all of that.

So how does that all work for you to get all of that to come together so it all could then be built?

- [Sarai] We are very lucky to have such a supportive community of people and businesses that help us.

So working with them has really helped us to build more homes.

- [Steve] Yeah, mm-hmm.

- So we reach out to new and existing businesses - [Steve] Yeah.

- to see if they can give us a hand.

And community members are very generous too.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- So we're working on building up support.

- Yeah, now, when we see the photos of construction and I watch the ones over here go up, you obviously have a lot of volunteers and is that in your area too to find those groups that say, hey, the guys from such and such bank want to come over and help this weekend or, how does that all work?

Because that's pretty complex to organize all of that from land purchase to - [Sarai] It is.

- [Steve] now people are picking up a hammer or a nailer and actually applying the process.

- [Sarai] It is.

We have a wonderful volunteer coordinator, Gina Skaggs, - [Steve] Ah, okay.

- [Sarai] who gets all these wonderful folks together and coordinates them and gets them out on the site.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] So it's very helpful.

- [Steve] Yeah.

And I know one of the things too, because not everybody, as you watch somebody build something, it's like you probably have people who are a little reluctant like, I'll try to do something, but I'm not good with a hammer or a saw.

But there's always something for somebody to do to help the process.

- [Sarai] Oh.

Absolutely.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] You don't have to have experience.

We're happy to help.

We had recently had a staff build day out on the site.

- [Steve] Ah, okay.

- [Sarai] A team building event, if you will.

And I always wanted to learn how to use a saw.

- [Steve] Yeah, okay.

- So, one of the experienced core crew that's our group of volunteers that show up and know what they're doing, - [Steve] Yeah.

- showed me and know it was kind of a bucket list item, - [Steve] Yeah.

- so we can show you how to do things.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- And it's very interesting.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

I say it's a learning curve for everybody involved.

- Absolutely.

- From the person who's going to, you know, purchase the home, to everybody who's had a hand in building it literally.

Now, Robin, obviously you've got that facility there.

Talk about how the ReStore works because you have a wide range of things there for people to purchase, but how does all of that show up inside that building?

- Yeah, yeah.

So we received donations from a variety of different avenues.

So we do pick up donations within Wood County.

So we'll come to your home and we'll pick up your cabinets that you've uninstalled to get a new set, or your sofa.

You're moving and you wanna get a new dining room table, we'll come and can grab your old one.

So that's great.

But we also do accept donation drop offs, Wednesday through Saturday between the hours of 10 and four.

- [Steve] Oh, okay.

- [Robin] So if it's easier for you to just drop stuff off to us, that's great too.

And we take a whole wide variety of donations from building supplies to dishes so.

- [Steve] Yeah, because you probably have, I assume you have contractors who have leftover or things that they're not going to use.

- [Robin] Yes.

- [Steve] Say, okay, we've got four pallets of red brick - [Robin] Yes.

- [Steve] or four pallets of tile or whatever.

And so they bring things in.

- [Robin] Absolutely.

- [Steve] And you have criteria obviously, in what you can accept and things you will say, well no, that isn't gonna.

- [Robin] Yeah.

- [Steve] You can't just take, it isn't like just bring anything you have and drop it at your door.

- [Robin] Yeah.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Robin] So we take a lot of things.

So it's always worth checking.

- [Steve] Okay, all right.

- [Robin] Before you count us out.

Because there's some things you might think that are, - [Steve] They wouldn't want that, but you're like.

- [Robin] headed into the landfill, but I'll take them.

- [Steve] Oh, okay.

- [Robin] But our building and our contracting donors are very valuable to us.

They bring good sized donations that we can really make some money off of.

So we're always looking to partner with more builders.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- You know, it might not be enough of a quantity of something for them to use anymore, - [Steve] Mm-hmm, but.

- but someone doing a small project at home could take advantage of it.

- [Steve] Yeah, and it allows you guys to raise more funds - [Robin] Absolutely.

- to then do what you guys do.

When we come back, well, let's talk a lot about that event that's coming up in September and then we'll wrap some pieces up too, because obviously that's a big event.

It's a nice celebration of all the things you've been able to do each year.

So we'll come back and talk about that.

Back in just a moment with Mark Ohashi, Robin Swanson, and Sarai Shaneck from Habitat for Humanity of Wood County here on The Journal back in just a moment.

You're with us on The Journal and we're talking about Habitat for Humanity of Wood County and all of the things they do to create affordable and accessible housing to people here in Wood County.

And Habitat's all over the country, all over the world, but we're talking about the folks here in Wood County.

Obviously, and Sarai, we've talked about this a little bit, raising funds, getting money to be able to do all of these things, accomplish these are a big part of what you do.

And you touched on this event in the first segment, you talked about the drone drop.

So give us some particulars on that.

Like where it is when and how, and so how people can find out about it, maybe participate.

- [Sarai] Absolutely.

So the drone drop is going to be held at Fallen Timbers Fairways.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Sarai] It's a golf course in Monclova.

- [Steve] Right.

- [Sarai] An organization called 5K on the Fairway reached out to us and offered to do this fundraiser for us.

So it's really neat.

They're gonna drop 200 golf balls from a drone.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Sarai] Above the practice screen out there at Fallen Timbers.

And each one is numbered.

You can buy a ball, - [Steve] Ah.

- [Sarai] it's a raffle ticket if you will, the ball.

- [Steve] Right.

- [Sarai] They're $20 a piece.

And if your ball lands in the hole or closest to the hole, - [Steve] If you're closer.

- [Sarai] You're gonna win - [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] a thousand dollars.

- [Steve] Oh, that'll be cool.

- [Sarai] So.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And it's for a great cause because all of the other proceeds will come back to Habitat and will directly affect building - [Steve] Sure.

- in the fall and then next year.

- [Steve] Yeah, because I'm sure probably there are things that you need for some of the construction that aren't, don't come in the door donation wise, and you have to go out, - [Sarai] Absolutely.

- [Steve] and do some purchases to kind of fill in the holes, the slots a little bit.

Talk a little bit too now, because that's the event coming up, in the fall though is your big gala so.

And that's, - [Sarai] Yeah.

- that's gonna be at Nazareth Hall in Grand Rapids.

But kind of fill us on that.

And again, people can go online and buy now, they don't have to wait.

- [Sarai] No.

- They don't have to wait until September to do it.

- [Sarai] No, not at all.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] So it's September 19th as you said, at Nazareth Hall.

It starts at 6:00 PM.

Tickets are at hundred dollars, but that gives you a gourmet dinner and great appetizers.

- [Steve] Oh, yeah, great place.

- [Sarai] Nazareth Hall does a beautiful job.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- [Sarai] Really, truly, they're so good to us so.

And as I had told you, Mark Wasylyshyn, Sheriff Wasylyshyn is going to be the emcee for the live auction which is great.

We've got some really cool things.

- [Steve] Ah, okay.

- [Sarai] He usually donates be a sheriff for a day.

- [Steve] Oh, oh, okay.

- [Sarai] So yeah.

And then- [Steve]- Well, that sounds like fun.

Doesn't it?

Yeah.

- [Sarai] Absolutely, yeah.

And then BG Fire Department has also, you get to be a firefighter for a day.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Sarai] And they even take you up on the.

- [Steve] Oh, on the aerial.

- [Sarai] Yes.

- [Steve] Oh, boy.

- Well, okay.

- [Sarai] You get to shoot the hoses.

- [Steve] Oh, boy.

- [Sarai] Yeah, oh yeah.

Absolutely.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Sarai] And there's some fishing charters and things like that.

But the most important part of this is that all of the funds that we raise directly go into building homes.

Since it's gonna be a little bit earlier this year, the funds will help with our fall build in Walbridge this year - [Steve] Oh, okay.

- for a really, really neat family of three.

And for our 2026 builds as well so.

- [Steve] Okay.

- We have something there called sponsor a stud, which, you know, you think of a horse.

- [Steve] Yup, but this is a, this is a two by four.

- This is a two by four.

- [Steve] Okay.

- And we need quite a few of those - [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- as part of every build.

So you can sponsor one of those and write a message.

- [Steve] Oh wow.

- Yeah, yeah.

- [Steve] Cool, cool.

- Now you talked about, you know, the construction season and all that, and Mark, obviously you have a timeline during the year when you start and when you hope to finish all of that.

So kind of right now it's the spring, obviously you're out there in the process or in already building somewhere.

So talk about the timeline on when you like to start and how this process unfolds then.

- So typically we have a spring build.

So we broke ground in April.

And this year, it's a blitz build year.

So we're building the two houses simultaneously in partnership with Lakeside Interiors and Ridgestone Builders.

That's a huge help for us to be able to build those two houses.

Ridgestone and Lakeside take one essentially and build that one up.

And then Habitat and our corporate groups come out and build the second house.

And that's a big part of the Habitat program is working with our corporate partners.

- [Steve] Right.

- [Mark] We are excited when we're able to bring out a group of 10 to 12 volunteers from a local company.

They get to come out of the office for a day.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Mark] They sponsor the day, they provide the important financial support to build, but then they also provide that important volunteer support.

- [Steve] Right, sure, because as we were mentioning too, there are people who are gonna be the experts at construction and then there are all of the pieces that go around to keep those guys going so that the materials are there, and yeah, that part of it as well.

And you mentioned the corporate sponsors and obviously that's a big part of what you did, that's a big support, and you are very successful at that, because that does provide you with a pretty strong backbone for all of this.

- It is important.

I think so that the corporate sponsorships help offset the cost to build.

Right now we're anywhere from 115 to $120,000 in cash out cost to build a Habitat house, - [Steve] Okay.

- to build a three bedroom house.

Now some materials are donated, but then other materials are not donated, or the contractors we do pay for the contracting work.

- [Steve] Sure, sure.

- So all of that adds up.

And so having those corporate partners out there helping us to support that financial cost is really important, - [Steve] Yeah.

- to keep this program going.

- [Steve] And you made a good point though too, because, you know, we talk about the volunteers that are out there helping, but the reality is too, that you have people who know how to build homes.

They're the ones really, you know, overseeing this, doing it to making sure.

So it isn't as if, you know, I go out there and I'm building a bathroom with my unprofessional way of doing it or something.

So you've got people who make sure when these houses are done, they are up to speed, they're perfect houses, and they're ready to go.

- Well, we have a construction manager, Jason who's out there, and then he's supported by our core crew, we call them.

And a lot of those core crew are retired.

We say the best ability is availability.

And so they are out there during the work week working with Jason.

And as they come out again and again and again, they're learning more and more on how to do things.

A lot of them come with a certain level of DIY skills already and they're comfortable with power tools and whatnot, but maybe they haven't built an actual house yet, but Jason leads them and guides them and they acquire those skills as they come out again and again.

- [Steve] Yeah, they keep developing their skills and then the next time they're a little better a little better and all of that.

Now, Robin, obviously, we talked about the fact that you've got the store.

So if I walk in there today, what are some of the things I'm gonna see when I first walk in the door?

What's there that might get my attention?

- [Robin] Oh, when you first walk in the door, you'll see a whole showroom full of furniture.

- [Steve] Ah.

- [Robin] So we have had great donations of sofas, recliners, dining sets, anything you could need to furnish your home.

- [Steve] Ah.

- [Robin] We also have appliances.

We have building supplies like we touched on earlier.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Robin] Lawn and garden.

Pretty much anything you need to keep a household going.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And that's a good way and obviously some of that's donated, some of it obviously comes in from smaller parcels from companies that are, you know, as you said earlier, - [Robin] Absolutely.

- you may not have materials to do a big project, but for somebody who's doing something in their own house, - [Robin] Yeah.

- and they need, you know, a couple of hundred square feet of something versus somebody who's building a house and needs 10,000 square feet of whatever.

- [Robin] Absolutely.

- You've got it there for them.

- Yeah, that's definitely the role that we fill is especially supporting individual homeowners and being able to have affordable options for their projects.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- Our stock is always evolving every day.

We get in new donations.

And we try our best to post them on our Facebook.

So we're trying to really boost up our Facebook following for the Wood County ReStore, and we're making a point to put product posts up every day so you can see what's in stock today.

- [Steve] Yeah, wow.

Now you mentioned cabinets.

Are there criteria on what the cabinet has to be?

Does it have to be fully assembled or is there any, I mean, if I've got one that I've taken my cabinets out, I've taken the doors off, I've taken the drawers out to make it easier for me to move it, are those still viable for you guys?

- [Robin] Yeah, - [Steve] Okay.

- [Robin] as long as they came out intact.

You know, sometimes, - [Steve] Everything goes back together, okay.

- [Robin] You'll try to uninstall them and maybe you rip them, - [Steve] Yeah.

- [Robin] rip them apart a little bit, that obviously we couldn't take.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah, okay.

- [Robin] But, as long as they come out in one piece and someone could reinstall them in their home.

- [Steve] And they're gonna work, yeah.

- [Robin] Yup, then, we're happy to have them.

- [Steve] Yeah, good, good.

- [Robin] Absolutely.

- [Steve] Yeah, 'cause some people would say, well, no, it has to be perfectly assembled and all that.

But as long as all the parts are there and they're in good shape, it can be put back together, you're good to go.

So, yeah, not bad.

If there's anything, if it comes to what's the easiest way for people who want to become involved, either from a corporate point of view, as a contractor donating point of view, or simply a volunteer who wants to show up and help you when you're building, what's the easiest way for them to do that?

- Well, there's a couple different ways.

They can call us, 419-481-8100.

Or they can call the ReStore, 419-572.

- [Robin] 1324.

- [Steve] 1324, okay.

- [Robin] 1324.

- 1324.

- [Sarai] We are available on the web.

Our website is WcHabitat.org.

- [Steve] Okay.

- Yup, and we'll get that up on the screen for you too.

- [Sarai] Great.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

Good, good.

- [Sarai] They can call us, email us.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Sarai] We'd be happy to talk to you.

- [Steve] You'd talk to them.

- [Sarai] Absolutely.

- [Steve] Yeah, no matter how they get to you, you're willing to talk to them.

- [Sarai] Absolutely.

- [Steve] Okay, cool, cool.

Thank you so much for coming in and it is good to get an update because we know we talked to you last year roughly at some point about this and it's good to hear you know, that things are being successful.

The ReStore is a new piece of the whole puzzle here and helping you fund things and people can then repurpose, recycle, get nice items that otherwise might end up someplace like in a landfill, which is a waste of good quality products.

So it works out well.

So thank you Mark, Sarai, Robin.

Thank you so much.

- [Robin] Thank you.

- You can check us out at wbgu.org.

You can watch us every Thursday night at 8:00 PM.

We will see you again next time on The Journal.

Goodnight and good luck.

(upbeat music)