The People and Stories that Inspire Us

A narrative by Beth Hughs, Donor Relations Ambassador for Habitat for Humanity of Springfield, MO

As the Donor Relations Ambassador for the ReStore, I continuously experience the kindness and generosity of the people and businesses in our community. I have been in basements, garages, storage units, offices, and warehouses full of treasures being offered as donations to our store. I see the goodness of humanity every day in a world that often does not have “good” as its focus. That being said, sometimes it is just a tad overwhelming, like the day I met Doris Lane.

At the age of 96, it was time for Doris to be closer to her kids in Arizona. Her son Chuck and daughter-in-law Barbara had come to Missouri to help pack and prepare for the move. Somewhere in the decision making process, the three had decided Doris would not be taking most of her belongings. Chuck made a call to our store because they were thinking that possibly donating these items would be the best answer, and I told them I would pay them a visit.

My plan was to make Doris comfortable and confident in choosing Habitat with this generous gift, but for some reason, when I crossed the threshold of her cozy, beautifully kept patio home in the community of Elfindale and laid eyes on this beautiful 96 year old woman, I panicked. I was smiling on the outside, but internally I was fighting back a flood of emotions. I was looking at a collection 96 years in the making and wasn’t sure I was ready to be a part of its disassembly.

Then Doris and I sat on the couch together and began to talk. I told her about the ReStore. I told her that our mission had helped over 80 families in the past year alone and sales from the ReStore had funded nearly 60 percent of the mission. I told her that we have a full-time construction crew that kept working to help people even in the midst of the pandemic. Then I began to talk about my favorite aspect of our mission, our ability to help older members of our community, who are sometimes on very limited incomes, to have affordable repairs made to their homes. My panic began to subside. I think at this point my love for older people and my love for Habitat for Humanity meshed, and I realized this might just be the perfect decision for her in this situation.

The following week, the donation had been made, Doris and Barbara had flown to Arizona, and Chuck was on the road somewhere in Texas traveling home, when I called him with the following story. I was entering the ReStore through the loading area in the back as Doris’s sewing machine was being loaded into a customer’s car. I went over and told her that she had found a treasure as we had received it as a gift from a very special lady. The customer told me that her mother had an identical sewing machine and she was so excited to find one for herself, and they would be sewing together. That was the difference made through the sale of just one item out of the hundreds that Doris gave. Our mission and our shoppers have been truly blessed through Doris’s decision, and I was so very blessed to be a part of it.