Several years ago, a company called Renovation Angel updated David Pogue’s 20-year-old kitchen. They did the demolition, hauling and cleanup — for free.
The Pogues got a tax deduction. Renovation Angel then resold the Pogues’ old kitchen, People renovating their ow kitchens got luxury items for a fraction of the price.
The best part: All those proceeds went to charity. Renovation Angel donates to programs for addiction recovery, at-risk children, job training and social entrepreneurship. You can read all about it here.
Recently, David and his wife Nicki wanted to update their main bedroom bathroom. Renovation Angel works only with kitchens. But David persevered — and has another great everyone-wins story.
Second Chance performs similar work with bathrooms. The non-profit “provides people, materials and the environment with a second chance.”
Second Chance arruves at the Pogues’ home …
They “deconstruct buildings and homes, salvage usable materials, and make those and other donated items available to the public for reuse” at a 200,000+ square foot retail center.
The revenue generated provides job training and workforce development for people with employment obstacles in the Baltimore area.
Pogue’s builder pulled out everything from the old bathroom — sinks, shower doors, toilet, cabinets, tub, etc. — and put it in the garage.
Second Chance sent a big truck and 8 big men to wrap, protect and load it all into a truck.
… and workers clear out bathroom equipment. (Photos/David Pogue)
Once again, it was a win for everyone. The Pogues gained a tax deduction and free hauling. Second Chance gained the opportunity to employ people who need the jobs. The people of Baltimore gained inexpensive building materials that gain a new life.
Landfill gained nothing.
Thank you, Second Chance, for giving a second chance to “people, materials and the environment.”
And thank you, David Pogue, for recognizing such a worthy Unsung Hero.
(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com)
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Thank you for sharing this. Super valuable and helpful to all.
Pretty cool!
Like Green Demolition but I don’t think they are around any more. It’s a win win for everyone!
Second Chance is in Baltimore and when I called, they said they would only come as far as Westport for a total house demolition. Not sure how David got this done, but it would be great to know about other more-local places that might do this.
Habitat for humanity in Stratford and New Haven takes lots of generic builder kitchens and bathrooms that we take out. We remove it so that it stays in good condition and can stay out of landfills. They also take working applience that are in good shape.
Thanks, Rebecca! The contractor I work with also mentioned Habitat but said they are pretty selective in what they will take. Good to know they are an option, though.
David Pogue called Habitat for Humanity first. They told him they only do complete houses — not bathrooms only.
Not sure that’s right When we redid our kitchen 6 years ago, Restore, took our whole kitchen cabinetry. Restore is the retail branch of Habitat. Kind of like Restoration Angel..