“When I started in this position a little over a year ago, I just hoped that we could help people in our community in some way. I was confident that we would be able to educate our trainees with skill-building, but realized over time we’d also be helping them become advocates for our environment, too. What I also recognized along the way is that our environment is not just the rivers, lakes, and oceans – it is the people as well.”
– Ben Lewis – Volunteer & Jobs Training Manager, The RE Store
One of the things we’re most proud of here at The RE Store from 2014 is our growing Jobs Training program, providing skills, confidence, and a future for so many individuals.
In 2014 we had:
10 Trainees who worked a total of 1210 hours.
91 Volunteers who worked a total of 1512 hours.
and 123 Community Service Volunteers who worked a total of 2409 hours!
As they’ve gained a broad range of skills – everything from general store organizational tasks and proper use of tools, to building repurposed items for our RE Vision Division – they’ve also enjoyed the bonus of giving back to our broader community. Thank you to each and every one of those trainees and volunteers we’ve had in the store this past year! We couldn’t have done it without you.