SAE International Donates Materials for Pittsburgh's New Habitat for Humanity ReStore Facility

WARRENDALE, Pa., Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The walls of Habitat for Humanity's new Pittsburgh facility were built with the help of SAE International. SAE International donated the majority of the shelving and other office items now in use at the new Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Edgewood Towne Centre shopping plaza on South Braddock Avenue in Pittsburgh. In total, SAE International saved the organization significant start-up costs, based on estimates they received for the cost of purchasing new shelving and other useable items for the facility.

"The kindness that SAE International had in doing this is really exceptional," said Richard Sovich, a Nadcap Staff Engineer at the SAE International -affiliated Performance Review Institute and a board member of the Pittsburgh chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Sovich helped throughout the donation process and, especially with regards to suggesting that the company donate materials left over from a recent remodel of the SAE International World Headquarters.

By donating these materials to Habitat for Humanity, SAE International not only supported a good cause, but also made an environmentally-conscious decision to keep these items out of a landfill, which is where the shelves likely otherwise would have come to rest.

SAE International hopes to serve as an example to other organizations that as businesses change in times of economic downturn or growth, simple actions can be taken to benefit the larger community. Items that may no longer have use for one company may still have value for charitable organizations like Habitat for Humanity.

"Just look for the opportunities. They are out there," said Sovich. "If more companies approached corporate restructuring in this way, they would be benefitting themselves, along with the local community. Everybody wins." Donating materials can also decrease the expense of disposing of large items and may provide a tax benefit to companies.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore of Greater Pittsburgh sells reusable building and home improvement materials, tools, hardware, and home decor to the public. All proceeds from the sale of donations help place families in affordable shelter and also helps to break the cycle of poverty. The home recipient is provided an opportunity to build long-term financial security of home ownership through Habitat's affordable, no-profit home re-payment system. According to Habitat's executive director Maggie Withrow, "The ReStore provides an environmentally and socially responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of landfills while providing funding for Habitat's community improvement work.  SAE International demonstrated their willingness to support this concept through their recent donations to our ReStore."

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh welcomed members from SAE International—as well as other friends, volunteers, and donors—to the new ReStore building on July 28, 2011, for an invitation-only grand opening celebration.

SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

- www.sae.org-
- www.pittsburghhabitat.org -

Contact: Shawn Andreassi of SAE International, 1-724-772-8522 or [email protected]

SOURCE SAE International