Pickups and ReStore traffic has been ‘pretty steady,’ Habitat CEO says

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With provincial restrictions easing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton was able to resume picking up donations Tuesday.

And the phone was ringing frequently.

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Pickups and ReStore traffic has been ‘pretty steady,’ Habitat CEO says Back to video

“We did about 10 pickups today,” David Waters, the charity’s chief executive, said Tuesday afternoon. “Tomorrow’s already filling up.”

Staff are only picking up items from curbs, driveways or front porches, and will not be entering homes, but it’s a positive step as the charity needs the products, Waters said.

Resuming pickups comes on the heels of the ReStore in Sarnia reopening last Wednesday as it qualifies as a hardware store, Waters said

“It’s been pretty steady,” he said.

But they’ve been taking precautions such as limiting the number of people inside the London Line building, installing see-through barriers between customers and staff, and posting signs about physical distancing.

“Trying to be cautious just like most people,” he said.

They’re also accepting empty bottles at the depot that opened there last year. Recycled empties are put back into the build program.

Reopening the ReStore is important as it drives builds for qualified families throughout the region, he said. Only one of the existing projects was allowed to continue during the provincial shutdown in March and April.

“But now that construction opened fully today, we can start advancing our homes that we’re going to be doing this year,” he said.

Officials were initially planning to build nine homes throughout Sarnia-Lambton, but three were cancelled dueto  pandemic-related setbacks. The plan is still to build four in Kettle and Stony Point, one on Bright Street in Sarnia and one in Petrolia.

@ObserverTerry

tbridge@postmedia.com