ORANGE BEACH — The City of Orange Beach recently purchased property at 26192 Canal Road, including a house that is set to be demolished, and as the contents of the house were not needed for public or municipal purpose, the city decided to donate the surplus to Habitat for Humanity Baldwin County.

Items like an inside air handler, yard-man leaf vacuum/wood chipper, wheelbarrow, storage rack, tennis court squeegee, stove, microwave, tennis ball machine, snow chains, large planters, extension ladders and other miscellaneous contents were given to the local organization that has uplifted more than 220 families since its inception.

Habitat for Humanity Baldwin County ReStore Director Heather Eddington told Gulf Coast Media the nonprofit doesn't see donations like this from municipalities often enough.

"We greatly appreciate the donation from Orange Beach," Eddington said. "Our main objective at ReStore is to engage with the community and spread awareness of what Habitat for Humanity is doing within the community. Anytime that a municipality or any organization shares their spotlight with us, we want to embrace and encourage that. There's a large portion of the community that we're not reaching individually, so if we partner together in that way, our communities cross and it just multiplies the number of people aware of us."

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nonprofit home improvement outlets where the public can find new and gently used furniture, building materials, appliances and more, thanks to donations like the one made by Orange Beach. Revenue generated from ReStore sales benefits work building, rehabbing and repairing homes all across Baldwin County.

"ReStore is our only public-facing, year-round fundraiser," Eddington added. "It's huge for funding the projects we do. Without donations, the ReStore isn't going to run or be successful. We depend highly on donations."

Formed in 1991 from a small Sunday school group discussing the need for affordable housing options in the area, Habitat for Humanity Baldwin County has also helped more than 400 individuals through financial education coaching, with classes offered to the public at no charge.

The organization accepts financial donations, ReStore donations, car or boat donations, gifts of stock, estate gifts, gifts of land and provides other options through multiple workplace giving campaigns. Considered on a case-by-case basis, community service and volunteer opportunities are also available. Any relative requests can be made at https://habitatbaldwin.org/.