Larchmont-Based Furniture Sharehouse Holds Furniture Drive in White Plains

As the volunteers at the Furniture Sharehouse furniture drive began folding up their tents and chairs to call it a day, around a half dozen vehicles pulled into the parking lot at the Community Unitarian Church in White Plains to drop off tables, chairs and other small items.

This particular drive didn’t quite fill up the moving truck, donated by Fraioli & Quigley Movers, based in Harrison, but other events have collected enough furniture to fill up two big rigs.

“It’s good to take any of these items out of the waste stream,” said volunteer Christine Eifler, who lives in White Plains. “It’s win-win all around. Municipalities don’t have to collect it, the donor feels good about not throwing out a perfectly good piece of furniture and it goes to people who really need it.”

—founded by Larchmont resident Kate Bialo—picks up items and accepts drop-offs at their spartan warehouse, a former hangar located at the county airport. Clients of several social services agencies, which pay a $100 yearly fee to join, come to the warehouse with their caseworkers and pick up needed items.

Among the people helped by the program are developmentally disabled adults, young adults who age out of the foster care system, a family who had to discard all their furniture and move after bedbugs infested their apartment and a family burned out of their home.

The organization partners with non-profits and houses of worship like the Unitarian Church in White Plains to hold drives that make it easy for people to drop off furniture, though the group only accepts certain items and ones in good condition.

The muscle behind the operation, Port Chester resident David Vitullo, will pick up at least three items of furniture for a $20 donation, though he also accepts small appliances, microwave and toaster ovens, televisions smaller than 27 inches along with sofas, dressers, tables and clean mattresses.

But there are limits to what they take, including large items. “People getting this furniture live in smaller places and we can’t take anything really heavy or oversized, since there’s the likelihood that we’re going to have to haul it up a set of stairs,” said Marie Graham of White Plains, who serves on the Board of Directors. 

So they reluctantly turn down items like exercise equipment, large china cabinets and patio furniture. Some donations are also in poor shape and the organization has to be sensitive to the fact that some people suffer allergies.

“People get attached to their stuff so sometimes their perceptions can be off,” said Graham. “That’s the tightrope we walk because sometimes people think we’re fussy, but they’ll have bedding and upholstery that has outlived its useful lifespan; so we can’t take ripped sofas or something that looks too dirty or dingy because this is going to be the central gathering spot in a household. We service families with kids who have asthma, seniors with oxygen tubs or veterans with emphysema so we can’t take just anything.”

The group held its kickoff donation event over 10 days at Harbor Island in Mamaroneck in April 2007 coincidentally at the same time that a Nor'easter caused the worst flooding in decades to Mamaroneck and the surrounding areas. They provided furnishings for 65 families in Mamaroneck and have now helped over 1,400 families in Westchester.

“One of the most moving scenes I saw was a woman who came with a Jeep to move her own furniture, but the first thing she took was a big kitchen table and six chairs,” said Eifler. “It was a big pedestal thing and that was all she wanted to take home first, so she took it completely apart and told us it was the first time her family would ever be able to eat at a table rather than on the floor.”

The next furniture drive will be held Oct.15, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Town of North Castle Town Hall in Armonk. For more information, call 914-834-1294 or e-mail info@furnituresharehouse.org

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article erroneously indicated that Furniture Sharehouse was operated by the Junior League of Westchester on the Sound.  The article has been corrected.