The NKBA Chapter organized a remodeling project and extensive school-supply drive to help an underserved community. By Dianne M. Pogoda
For NKBA’s West Michigan Chapter, “back-to-school” took on an added dimension this year. What began with a simple query about where to find some help with repairs turned into a substantial renovation project for the teachers’ lounge at Townline Elementary School in an underprivileged community.
Townline straddles two low-income school districts that are culturally diverse in Kentwood, outside of Grand Rapids, Mich. Most of its 350 students are recipients of food bank programs and other subsidies, partly channeled through a local resource center, Streams of Hope. The school’s resource officer was working with the center and a local church to find volunteers to paint and assemble some donated furniture to spruce up the teachers’ lounge. One of the volunteers noticed broken cabinets hanging off hinges and a peeling laminate countertop, and contacted Anneke Huisman, the chapter’s Communications Chair.
“The volunteer said, ‘You’re the only kitchen person I know,’” Huisman recalled. “‘Maybe you can find us someone to help fix this.’ After looking at the site, I knew repair was probably out of the question. So I reached out to our NKBA board and explained the potential scope of the project. The question was never if we would, but how we would make this work for the school community.”
Huisman, who works in cabinetry design and sales for Standale Home Studio in Grand Rapids, spearheaded the project, as the chapter began to contact local member vendors and resources for countertops, cabinetry, plumbing resources and other accessories. The NKBA team coordinated donors, installers and trade partners for the project, including national suppliers like Belwith Keeler, Kraus and Hafele — happy to showcase some of their newer products for the project — as well as local suppliers.
Standale donated new cabinetry from a canceled project that was paired with discontinued quartz tops donated by Mont Surfaces by Mont Granite, also in Grand Rapids. Premier Granite and Stone of Grandville installed them as well as glass and floating wood shelves from Sligh Closet & Glass in Holland, Mich., and Homestead Timbers, Marne, Mich.
Originally planned as a spring-break project, supply-chain woes pushed the renovation back to the summer. The chapter used the time to raise money to cover items that were not donated. While the school’s maintenance team was initially required to execute the installation, several local builders stepped in toward the end of the project to ensure the space would be finished before the start of the school year.
“As icing on the cake, Whirlpool donated a new fridge and two new microwaves to replace well-worn appliances,” Huisman said. “In total for the teachers’ lounge makeover, we engaged 10 NKBA members or partners and supplied more than $12,500 worth of services and material for the project.”
But the chapter wasn’t finished yet. They organized a school-supply drive at 12 NKBA member showrooms and businesses, since only 10 percent of Townline students start the school year with basic classroom needs. Donated materials filled a school hallway from front to back, outfitting classrooms with much-needed notebooks, art supplies, headphones for computer learning, pants, socks and underwear for the primary grades, sanitizing wipes, pre-packaged snacks, several chairs, a workstation and other special tools and equipment for the autistic program.
Chapter President John Valente called Huisman “the driving force” behind the project.
Huisman said the overwhelming response from participating NKBA members and partners, the school and everyone involved in the project was twofold: “They loved being able to make an immediate impact in their local community. Often with charity drives, the parent organization is large or the need is distant, so the impact is not directly felt. Individual teacher and classroom lists personalized the drive, and ensured teachers had what they most needed,” she said.
“NKBA chapter members also enjoyed being able to play a small role in something that grew, with everyone’s involvement, into something very large,” she added. “The pictures that came back from the showrooms with their collected supplies showed tight-knit companies happy to engage with and give back to their local community…showing the best of what NKBA local chapters can do. We can be ‘the people you know,’ not only for each other when we need connection and resources, but also for our local communities.”
