Several businesses have truly stepped up to the plate in providing support in the form of donations to Sweet Charity. These businesses will deliver brand new items to their customers and then encourage them to consider donating the replaced item to Sweet Charity and will even transport the donation to the store.
Miller Waldrop Furniture extends this offer to remove gently used materials from customers to donate to Sweet Charity. Their store is also located in Ruidoso Downs and offers a full line of home furnishings, mattresses and decor. The store is currently owned and operated by third generation owners Kent and Beckey Waldrop, whose main store in Hobbs, New Mexico has been in business since 1952. Though their second store in Ruidoso Downs opened three years ago, their extended family had been serving the Lincoln County area under a different name for the past 20 years. The store specializes in talented employees who help customers with their furnishing needs and room design, as well as their selection of mattresses.
Ruidoso Downs store manager, Justin Morehead, and Warehouse and Deliver Manager, Al Buse, came up with the idea of giving to The Nest to help support their cause. Moorehead related, “We strongly believe in giving back and supporting our community in various ways, especially to organizations like The Nest who do good work and help others in their time of need when they have no place else to turn.”
The other big supporter of HEAL & The Nest is Sears Hometown Store located in Ruidoso Downs. Their near 7,000 square foot show room features appliances, mattresses, tools and lawn and garden products. However, customers are able to order other Sears products not displayed on their floor, including parts, water heaters and water softeners. And if they can’t order it for you, they will recommend another local business who may have that product. While the family has lived in Ruidoso since the early 1970s, the mother-son partnership of Joan Junge and Matthew Bridges have owned the Sears Hometown store for five years, and they take pride in giving back to the community.
“We donate whenever we are financially able, but our personal and professional focus is The Nest, the Humane Society and the Food Bank,” Bridges explained. “We believe in The Nest for its foundation, its mission, its cause and its results for women of Lincoln County.”
Bridges continued, “We donate personally, professional, and we tell our customers that if we can help them donate their old appliances or personal items, we will be more than happy to take them to Sweet Charity, and we also tell them why we choose Sweet Charity.”
According to Susanne Francis, Operations Director at The Nest, “We are so grateful for the businesses in Lincoln County who support us. Small town businesses struggle to compete with big stores, and we know it takes more out of their pockets to help. We are amazed and humbled by stores like Miller Waldrop Furniture and Sears who find creative ways to give back to their community.”