Blog - Page 2

December 1^st will be a big day for Drake Hulin and for Home Furniture. The Distribution Center Receiving Manager will be running in the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. It’s a huge undertaking, but Drake has found ample support among his Home Furniture family.

“The marathon actually falls at a busy time of year for us,” explains Drake. “But when I told them what I wanted to do, they told me not to worry about it. They want me to run, and every manager has been very supportive.”

St. Jude is a cause close to many hearts in the Home Furniture family. In the past two years the company has donated nearly $40,000 to the cause. Home Furniture has participated in “Give Thanks, Give Hope” campaign for St. Jude since 2017, so it seemed only natural to support one of their own while he worked to meet his marathon goal.

“I’ve had so many fellow employees come talk to me about it. It’s so awesome to have their support,” says Drake. “They want to know how my training is coming along; it’s been great.”

Drake has been running for the past 3 years, mostly 5Ks, 10Ks, and a half-marathon, but the St. Jude Marathon will be his first full marathon. He’s been training every day before and after work. Working in a warehouse in the Louisiana heat hasn’t kept him from his goal. Drake thinks the marathon will be a challenge, but one he’s been looking forward to for a long time.

“The marathon route actually goes in front of the St. Jude Hospital,” explains Drake. “They actually let the kids that are able to go outside come and cheer you on. I’m looking forward to that for sure.”

His wife and two children will also be present to cheer him on. He says his family is thrilled he’s decided to take up this challenge for such a special cause. The St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend is the single largest one-day fundraising event for St. Jude. The fundraising efforts of runners like Drake will help ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.

“I don’t have a direct personal connection to St. Jude, but it’s just such a fantastic cause. This seemed like the perfect place to compete in a marathon.”

Drake will have the full support of his family at home, his family at work, and the community of St. Jude when he starts the marathon on the December 1^st. There is no doubt they will all be cheering when he crosses the finish line.

Home Furniture is focused on continued community support for all of its locations. The greater Baton Rouge area is no exception. Throughout each year, employees donate their time and money to Pat's Coats for Kids and are proud to be a sponsor.

“This is something we gladly do every year,” says Larry Williams, manager of the Home Furniture location in Baton Rouge. “We’ve been involved for over a decade and always give a monetary donation.”

For every $20 donated, a new, high-quality coat is provided for a child in need in the capital area. It’s all part of the Pat’s Coats for Kids drive which buys coats for kids in parishes including Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, as well as Charter Schools of Baton Rouge.

WBRZ is hosting the annual Pat’s Coats for Kids coat drive now through Wednesday, November 21, 2018.

“We appear on WBRZ to present our check and try to inspire other businesses to do the same,” says Larry.

For the past 30 years, Pat’s Coats for Kids and the Baton Rouge community have distributed more than 250,000 coats to meet the challenge of keeping the children in our area warm during cold winter months.

Larry says it’s not just the Baton Rouge business community that can help, everyone is welcome to donate. For more information on drop off locations, follow this link.

“They are no different. God planted my soul in my mom and I was born here in the land of privilege. God planted their soul over there, that’s where they live and that’s what they know. We are just so fortunate, but they are no different from us.”

Lori Berwick left for Haiti on October 12, and spent a week with other people from Louisiana hoping to make a difference in the Port Au Prince region. She was part of a group traveling with Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home. This was her second trip to Haiti, her first was a mission trip in 2017.

“I was on the medical team this time, I took vital signs then passed them off to the doctor. Then after they saw the doctor we’d see to it they got vitamins and any medication they need,” she said.

There was a special woman that stuck out to her on this trip. A new mother who came in with her 22-day old baby. The woman was very ill and the child was only 5lbs, but Lori, her team, and charitable Haitians were able to get the new mother the help she needed.

“She came in and could barely walk, it was decided she needed to go to the hospital. We took up a donation from all of the people there so we could get her taken to a hospital,” said Lori. “We were told after the fact that if she had not gone to the hospital that day she would not have survived much longer.”

They were able to check on her the next day and the woman was much improved. A highlight of the 2017 trip turned out to also be a highlight of this experience. Louisiana Reach Haiti has been working for quite some time to build an orphanage. They’ve been fundraising for a while. Last year there was only a wall around the property and a well. This year Lori got to be there for the opening celebration.

“We got to be there for the ribbon cutting, that was really neat,” Lori explained. “One of the members on our team was very excited because it had an indoor bathroom and most orphanages there do not have indoor bathrooms.”

She said the ceremony was touching and they’ve already started housing children. Lori explained that if you want to donate you can go to the Louisiana Reach Haiti website.

“Before the ceremony it wasn’t raining or anything, yet there was a rainbow.”

 Lori said the children were grateful and excited for their new home. She even got to see a familiar face from her mission work last year.

“Kwisno was there, I could see the recognition in his face and we held each other’s hands. But he’s 14 now, and the people over there are just people like us, so 14-year-olds over there are also too cool to get too excited.”

Lori manages the accounting department at the Home Furniture location in Lake Charles and has been with the company for 24 years. She says her coworkers have been incredibly supportive of her mission work, and will continue to support her when she leaves for Haiti again next year. She’s planning to go on a third mission trip to the area in October of 2019.

Lori Berwick left for Haiti on October 12. Going with a group from the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home from Louisiana, she’s hoping to make a difference in the Port Au Prince region. She is part of a group traveling with Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home.

“Last year I was on the Vacation Bible School Team,” explains Lori. “We saw 200 kids a day. We’d color with them and play, tell them Bible stories. It was really something to see. It was a lot of fun.”

Lori works at the Home Furniture office in Lake Charles, where she manages the accounting department. She has been with the company for 24 years and says her coworkers have been incredibly supportive of her mission work.

“It’s a great place to work,” she says. “Next week is actually Boss’s Day, but I’ll be in Haiti so they gave me a gift early. They gave me a bunch of snacks to take on my trip.”

Lori says her work family and her family at home have been supportive of her since she first made a trip to Haiti last year. As a mother and grandmother, it is the Haitian children that made the most impression on her as she recalls her trip from 2017.

“We went to an orphanage, and every child just wants to have someone to hold. I was the last one to get off the van and I remember one little girl standing there waiting. She was so happy to see me. She was so excited that there was one person left on the van - that she would have someone - she grabbed my hand right away.”

Lori says she’s really looking forward to one event in particular this year.

“There’s one group, Louisiana Reach Haiti, and last year they bought the land for an orphanage. They’ve been fundraising for a while. Last year there was only a wall around the property and a well. This year we’ll get to see part of the complex set up, they are ready to start housing children.”

Lori explained that donations can be made at the Louisiana Reach Haiti website and when the page opens, her little friend from last year is featured.

“The boy smiling in the pink and white shirt, with the thumbs up, I met him last year, that Dusty! It would be wonderful to see him again.”

She’s not sure which team she’ll be on this year, but she is looking forward to the trip with the same anticipation and excitement from a year ago. It’s a week-long trip that will undoubtably make a difference in so many lives.