80,000 Pieces of Furniture Provided for Reuse in 2024
What do schools in Ethiopia and Baja California, a furniture bank in Philadelphia, a refuge for the
disabled in Haiti, a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Michigan, hurricane relief in North Carolina, and a
YMCA in Newton, Massachusetts have in common? They all received furniture in 2024 from IRN – The
Reuse Network.
The Reuse Network’s mission is to keep usable furniture out of landfills and get it to those in need. The
furniture comes from schools, colleges, hospitals and corporations that are replacing, renovating, or
downsizing. 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 IRN CEO Mark Lennon; “We put old furnishings into large
vehicles and take them away. But instead of filling dumpsters, we fill tractor trailers. 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 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, quick
because there’s almost always a tight schedule between students leaving and contractors arriving on
site, and efficient in finding the right recipient for each inventory and getting 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.”
Take a look at the photos, of kids at desks who had none before, of rooms furnished for families coming
out of abuse or homelessness, of families with furniture who had been making do with planks and
cinderblocks. In the end, that’s why we do what we do.
If you have furniture that deserves a new home, we hope you’ll call.
