In the first five years of the Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County ReSale Outlet, it’s raised enough money equivalent to building two homes.
The outlet is a storefront that accepts and sells donations to raise funds for Habitat’s programs.
Saturday, Habitat for Humanity celebrated the five-year anniversary of the outlet with storewide sales, special items for sale, a silent auction, giveaways and food trucks.
Ben Logan, director of Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County, said, “A lot of people know us for building homes, but they also might not know that we also have this storefront, we call it the ReSale Outlet, it’s over on Corridor Drive behind Harbor Freight, over by Maria’s Restaurant, right off U.S. 30. This is a place where people can donate items and we sell those items and that’s how we raise money for Habitat.”
Saturday was the store’s actual fifth anniversary, having opened on May 4, 2019, for the first time. He credited the leadership before him for getting the store up and running.
“We’ve been open for five years. We’ve grown in size, staff, number of transactions and all that, and we were just running the numbers for this event and the store over those five years has raised $300,000 for Habitat. So that’s the equivalent of two entire homes over those five years. And that includes our early years, Covid years and all that, so hopefully that’s even better the next five,” Logan said.
The store’s regular business hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Items also can be dropped off during those times at 3970 Corridor Drive, Warsaw.

    Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County ReSale Outlet, 3970 Corridor Drive, Warsaw, is often referred to as the nonprofit Home Depot because it sells many of the same products. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

For those looking to do some shopping, he said, “They can expect to find a lot of furniture, building supplies. We get bathroom vanities and cabinets, plumbing, electrical, lighting, appliances. We’ve been called the nonprofit Home Depot at times, so anything you might find at Home Depot you would probably find here as well.”
The items at the store aren’t in poor shape, he said.
“We’re talking about, not just ‘Hey, I was going to throw this away, but I gave it to you guys instead.’ People who are downsizing, moving. We have a large box truck that we can go pick up items within the county, so if you have items you can’t bring it to us, we can possibly go get it for you as well. That’s free. It’s all quality stuff. I bought a lot of furniture myself, and I can attest to that,” Logan stated.
For Saturday’s silent auction, he said local businesses and individuals were very generous.
“We have some items that usually we wouldn’t have in the store - things like Wagon Wheel tickets and golf tickets. We have food trucks going on out here as well,” he said, adding that the store was open from noon to 7 p.m.
“Just a time to celebrate what the community has done through the ReSale Outlet and, obviously, look forward to the next five years,” he said.
Right now, Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County is building about two houses a year.
“We want to be building three houses and we want to be looking at new programs as well. The store has really funded a lot of that growth. We want to see more homes being built, more lives being changed through that,” Logan said.
Two homes recently were completed in Claypool.
“Now we’re looking at Mentone, so we’re just now announcing the Boyd family. You can read about them and their story on our website. But we’re looking forward to Mentone in the coming weeks,” he concluded.
To donate items to the ReSale Outlet, visit kosciuskohabitat.org/donate. To sign up to volunteer at the ReSale Outlet, visit kosciuskohabitat.org/volunteer. To get a weekly sneak peak of new items for sale, follow the ReSale Outlet on Facebook (@kosciuskorestore). For more information, visit kosciuskohabitat.org/resale.