Conversation with Zach Hensley, manager of Dayton Ohio Habitat for Humanity ReStore How long have you had this job, Zeke?

“I’ve been here for four years. Before that I was a manager at the Dayton airport. Almost everything we sell here is donated, and the profits from our sales support Habitat for Humanity. They help people who need affordable housing and who are willing to invest hundreds of hours of work alongside volunteers.”

“We sell all kinds of household goods, appliances, furniture, cabinets, building supplies, books, TVs, flooring and more. We just got a big load of new furniture from a national chain that is moving locations. The Dayton Dragons have also been sending us quite a bit lately.”

I see a sign for volunteer check in. Do you use lots of volunteers? “We do. We couldn’t operate without volunteers. Right now, quite a few of our volunteers are students. We have people from U.D., Wright State, Sinclair and a few high schools.”

“I mentioned that almost everything we sell has been donated to us. The exception is paint and painting supplies. Reselling paint that was donated to us probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Even though it’s not donated, the paint we sell is recycled. It’s called EcoTone and it is supplied to us by a company in Van Wert. They take unused paint, sort it, triple-filter it and blend it into 18 different colors. We like offering recycled paint because it saves out customers money and it prevents unused paint from entering landfills and waterways.”