If you go
Doors to Homes and Hope
Debut at Norcross Art Fest
10 a.m.-6 p.m. today ; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Gwinnett ReStore
2100 Riverside Pkwy., No. 123-A, Lawrenceville
770-962-4200
www.gwinnettrestore.org/Doors-to-Homes-Hope
Shelly Howard finds inspiration in the oddest places. One of her latest brainstorms struck in the middle of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Lawrenceville.
“I wasn’t that familiar with the store and how it connected to Habitat, but I’d heard they had a lot of interesting pieces,” said Howard, a Duluth resident and former event planner. “I went to find some garden pieces, but when I walked by a wall of doors, and it came to me: There could be a Habitat campaign around original hand-painted doors.”
Within a few minutes, Howard had constructed a fundraising scenario: Have local artists paint doors and auction them off to raise money for the ReStore that resells donated household items and building materials at low prices. The proceeds fund Habitat homes builds in Gwinnett County.
Howard’s brainstorm even came with a name. “I called it ‘Doors to Homes and Hope’ to bring awareness to the Habitat mission,” she said.
Not one to let a good idea go, Howard immediately began working to make the fundraiser happen. With Stacie Stamper, the ReStore’s donations coordinator, she visited local art groups, inviting members to buy and paint doors to put on public display and sell for Habitat. Within a few weeks, 140 artists volunteered and headed to ReStore to buy doors for $25 each. In addition, students from Duluth, Central Gwinnett, Mill Creek and North Gwinnett high schools and Norcross Elementary also worked on doors.
“We presented the idea of painting for a cause and having their art seen in public places,” said Howard. “Then the students got involved. This whole event has grown legs on its own; I have never felt such enthusiasm and interest. We had no idea it would get this kind of response.”
The painted doors make their debut today at the Norcross Art Fest. Additional doors will be on display on the greens in Duluth and Suwanee, where they’ll mark Monday as World Habitat Day. Information on how to bid on each door is attached to it; opening bids start at $100.
“People can go to these places and see which ones they like,” said Howard. “Old doors are very hot right now; people can use them for headboards or tables or in the garden.”
The project will also raise awareness about the ReStore that has been in Lawrenceville for three years.
“A lot of people have heard about Habitat, but they don’t know that we take donated items and sell them, with proceeds going to Gwinnett Habitat,” said Stamper. “The doors are a great way to promote what we do. As soon as Shelly said, ‘We’ve got to paint them!’ I just knew this would turn out to be something great.”
Each Saturday, we shine a spotlight on a local neighborhood, city or community. To suggest a place for us to visit, e-mail H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or call 770- 744-3042.
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