Paul is a talented and dedicated volunteer who has supported Habitat Edmonton in many ways throughout the years. Paul began his journey with Habitat over five years ago while volunteering in construction. In 2017, Paul volunteered with the construction team to help build the ReStore at 4004 99 street, transforming ReStore South into the store it is today. Around this time, Paul was winding down his career in Mechanical Engineering. With extra time on his hands, Paul decided to continue on with ReStore, and he now volunteers weekly at the very store he helped to build! Today, you can find Paul hard at work in the warehouse, where he spends his time testing and repairing various donations from lawn mowers to lights.
Contributing to and engaging with his community is important to Paul, and he finds that ReStore is a great place to so. Each day, he interacts with volunteers, many of which are partner families. Paul finds these individuals eager to learn, and throughout the day, he teaches them skills and knowledge they can put to use in their homes. Paul likes to take a common item and explain how it’s made, what the potential hazards are and how it can be used. For some, this information interests them, and he hopes that learning these skills might open up avenues of study or interest. In exchange for his teachings, Paul learns about the many volunteers he works with, often having fun and building friendships along the way.
We are grateful to have such a wonderful person on our team. Next time you donate an item to ReStore, Paul just might be the one tinkering with it in the warehouse!