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What do schools in Ethiopia and Baja California, a furniture bank in Philadelphia, a refuge for the homeless and disabled in Haiti, a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Michigan, an Islamic children’s center in Indiana, a hurricane relief center in North Carolina, and a YMCA in Newton, Massachusetts have in common? They were all recipients in 2024 of furnishings from IRN – The Reuse Network.
The Reuse Network is driven by a mission: Keep usable furniture out of landfills; get it to those in need. The furniture comes from schools, colleges, hospitals and corporations that are replacing, renovating, downsizing, or cleaning out storage. The recipients are nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged children, families, and communities across the U.S. and around the world – victims of natural disaster, war, homelessness, or endemic poverty.
“On the surface we look like trash guys,” says Mark Lennon, IRN’s founder and CEO; “We fill large vehicles with old furnishings and take them away. The difference is, instead of filling dumpsters, we fill tractor trailers and shipping containers. And instead of sending them to a landfill, we send them to folks who really need, but can’t find or afford them.”
In 2024 The Reuse Network filled 235 trucks and trailers with more than 81,000 pieces to be reused. Reaching out through its network of more than 250 nonprofit recipients, The Reuse Network shipped these furnishings to support disadvantaged communities in 19 U.S. states and 15 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These shipments included more than 22,000 school desks, 29,000 student chairs, more than 5,000 tables, 2,400 beds and mattresses, 1,800 dressers, plus thousands of adult desks and seating, bookshelves, storage and file cabinets, and dozens of other items.
“We focus our work on school and residential furniture,” says Lennon. “Residential furniture because it helps put lives and communities together after war or natural disaster. School furniture because if there’s a path out of poverty for millions of kids, it’s through a good education.”
The Reuse Network has been fulfilling its mission since 2002. In that time the company has filled nearly 9,000 tractor trailers, providing more than 1.9 million items for reuse. These have been shipped to communities in 67 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and 47 U.S. states. On top of the societal benefits of reuse, these shipments have kept more than 105,000,000 pounds of valuable assets out of U.S. landfills.
“It’s not a simple business,” says Lennon. “We have to be as simple as throwing stuff away, efficient because there’s almost always a short window between when students leave and contractors come on site, accurate in finding the right recipient for each inventory and setting up shipping to get it to them. And do this all for a price that’s competitive with disposal, because none of our clients wants to pay a premium for a sustainable solution.”
“But when we get pictures back – kids who have desks who had none before, families with new furniture after an earthquake or flood. It’s a good feeling to go home at night, for us and our clients.”
