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NWFB IN THE NEWS

Not a Food Bank, a Furniture Bank

By Kathleen Merriman, The Tacoma News-Tribune

Bill Lemke was standing with his son, Brian, in a San Francisco food bank warehouse when this idea struck him: Why can't we do this with furniture?

That was in 2005, and Bill, his wife, Joelene, and Brian, who was a senior at Peninsula High School, were on one of the mission trips they took as vacations. Brian loved the furniture bank idea and told his father he should go for it.

Bill, after all, has made a successful career as a representative of furniture manufacturers. He has friends and contacts in businesses throughout the South Sound. He's seen their back storage areas crammed with freight-damaged tables, outdated recliners and sofas that came back when they did not work out in a customer's living room. The pieces take up valuable space and, because they can't be sold, can end up in landfills.

Back home, Brian kept nudging his dad toward the idea. It's the kind of thing he believed God expects of us.

That fall, at 17, Brian was diagnosed with cancer. Friends at Sumner's Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse raised a fund for his medical bills, and he was responding well to treatment. Then, in late November, he developed a lung infection. Brian died on Thanksgiving Day.

Bill tried to give the money back. Keep it, his friends at the Old Cannery said. Do something to honor Brian.

Together, they did exactly that. They founded NW Furniture Bank.

They assembled a board of directors and set up a nonprofit corporation. The Old Cannery gave space in one of its warehouses. Bill set up a Web site, www.nwfurniturebank.org. He began working with two charities that help people get on track toward productive lives. The bank works only with agencies, not individuals, he said, which relieves it of the burden of screening requests.

The warehouse space fills and empties and refills rapidly.

The Old Cannery switched styles on accessories, and gave those as well as sofas, beds and chairs.

Sleep Country USA has been sending six to 10 mattress sets a week.

ReclinerLand has shipped in a steady supply of loungers.

Emerald Home Furnishings has grown into a regular donor.

Two private donors gave entire households full of top-quality furniture. The board puts the emphasis on "gently" with used furniture: No stains, rips, strange smells or wobbles. For those who receive it, this furniture is about dignity.

As the goods come in, families referred by the agencies pick out the items they need in the styles they like.

Growth has been slow, deliberately. The team is learning as it goes.

On out-of-town trips, the Lemkes go to furniture banks - Orlando, Minnesota, Cleveland.

The National Furniture Bank Association reports that its 70 members serve 100,000 families a year.

Bill expects the bank to outgrow its space at the Old Cannery. Already, he rents storage space a few times a month. He's upfront with his wish list: A furniture delivery truck. A warehouse. Fundraising expertise. Strong and steady donations from stores.

"I hope my main donors will be retailers and manufacturers who have outdated or freight-damaged pieces,"he said. Word of the bank has gotten around, and people at agencies are thrilled.

"Oh, gosh, this is perfect," said Kathy Bannon of Pierce County Alliance.

She's in charge of getting 10 former foster children settled in subsidized apartments. "Considering these kids have nothing, this is huge," she said. "There's nothing worse than living in apartment with no furniture."

But that happens, said Ellie Ottey, Family Self Sufficiency Development Director at Pierce County Housing Authority.

Last year, she said, 100 families moved out of emergency and transitional housing managed by Puyallup's Helping Hand House. They had worked hard, saved money and lived in furnished homes. But they had no furniture of their own, and not much money to buy it. The agencies, she said, don't have the money for it either.

"This is such a really important gap," Ottey said. "I'm so happy somebody's here to fill it."

You can bet Brian Lemke would be delighted that person is his father.

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677 kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com

HOW TO HELP

NW Furniture Bank accepts new and gently used furniture for agencies to give to needy people.
Web site: www.nwfurniturebank.org
Phone: After Nov. 19, call 253-279-7707.
Fax: 253-857-3602
E-mail: wcgig@comcast.net