MIDDLETOWN RESTORE GRAND OPENING AND SPRINGLAKE GROUNDBREAKING ON MAY 14, 2016

  MIDDLETOWN, DE – Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County, had the Grand Opening for the Middletown ReStore this past weekend on Saturday, May 14^th, as well as the Groundbreaking for Springlake, one of the new construction sites in Middletown.   Together, individuals from the community and invited guests were in attendance at the Grand Opening, including Board President Noreen Poole, board member Rick Gessner, State Representative Quinton Johnson, New Castle County Councilman Bill Powers, Councilman Robert Stout, Chamber Executive Director, Roxane Ferguson, and Chamber President Nick Ryan.   Before the store opened at 9AM, there was a line of approximately 40 people waiting patiently to begin their shopping. Opening day brought people from all over who found out about the opening from paid advertisements. One family, the O’Leary’s, a big supporter of the ReStore came down from Wilmington, DE to see what types of merchandise they could find.  “We frequent the ReStore’s and redid a home of ours with 80% of the windows, including the sliders from Habitat”.   A ceremonial ribbon cutting took place inside the store by our invited guests at 10AM where Middletown Councilman, Robert Stout, noted that the Middletown Shopping Center parking lot had not been as full as it was Saturday since he lived in the area.   “The ReStore is all about raising money so that we can fulfill our mission which is seeking to put God’s love into action by building homes, communities, and hope,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of HFHNCC.  “What you see here to my left is the next project we are doing here in Middletown.  Everyone who is here today buying merchandise is helping build habitat houses.” Located in the Middletown Shopping Center, at 600 N. Broad Street, Middletown, DE 19709, the store was packed from wall to wall with merchandise ranging from 50-90% off retail prices.  New and gently used merchandise was donated by manufacturers, stores, and individuals.  For the Grand Opening, on top of the already discounted rates, HFHNCC gave an additional 20% off.   By the end of the day, more than 150 people walked through the doors and more than $11,200 in sales were made in the first day. The stores operating hours will be Tuesday to Saturday from 9AM-4PM.   Following the ReStore Grand Opening guests made their way over to the 11:30am groundbreaking for our new construction, Springlake, on Elizabeth Street, off of East Lake Street.  Prospective homeowners, Mesa Barrette, Cherrell Finney, Cereza Hansley, Terri Hawkins, and Sonia Lahoz took their shovels along with Kevin Smith, CEO, Board President Noreen Poole, New Castle County Councilman, William Powers, and City Councilman, Jason Faulkner and broke ground in the presence of more than fifty people to commence the start of this project.   “I’m excited about being a homeowner, it’s more of a journey for me because it’s something that I’ve been wanting for a long time but didn’t really know how to actually get there”, Cereza Hansley said, a prospective homeowner and mother of two. After the groundbreaking there was a picnic where guests enjoyed themselves and mingled for the afternoon with other homeowners, some who have already been a part of the program, as well as Habitat for Humanity Board Members and Staff.   The Springlake project consists of five new homes, four on Elizabeth Street and one on Jefferson which will bring the total to 31 houses that Habitat has built in Middletown since 2000. Habitat is thankful for the sponsors who were able to make the Springlake project possible including New Castle County, Town of Middletown, Capital One, Chichester DuPont, The Laffey-McHugh Foundation, Deutsche Bank, Borkee-Hagley Foundation, TD Bank, PNC Bank, HSBC, Milton and Hattie Kutz Foundation, Principal Financial Group, the Anthony and Catherine Fusco Foundation, and the Longwood Foundation.