Volunteer of the Year: Peter Schnieder

Every time volunteer of the year Peter walks in his kitchen he reads a variation of a quote by Marian Wright Edelman that his wife wrote years ago:  

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”

Doing service work has always been important to Peter and his family. As he was retiring, he was looking to fill his time with consistent volunteer work. There are several places around the city that Peter frequents but his Thursdays are dedicated to Atlanta Habitat.  

Peter’s church has volunteered on a few builds over the years, so he was familiar with the organization. Although he has a background in product design and is comfortable building, he was looking for something more indoors.  

“I didn’t necessarily want to work outside in hot weather or the cold weather,” Peter said.

Peter tried the ReStore and enjoyed helping on the sales floor and the people he met while volunteering. For seven years now, the Atlanta ReStore has been where you will find Peter on Thursday afternoons.  

Although he was already a regular volunteer, Peter was still picking up extra volunteer opportunities at Habitat.  

Habitat has a number of special projects that volunteers can join. Peter saw an opportunity to join a deconstruction project salvaging useable building materials from residential homes. It was on the site that Peter and Jack got to know each other and began discussing Peter’s background in product design.

“Peter in conversation had said that he was a product designer and I have a design background in my undergrad, so immediately I knew what that meant,” Jack, Facilities and Sustainability Specialist at Atlanta Habitat, remembers. “He is a hands-on creative guy who expressed wanting to benefit Habitat as best he could with his skills and energy,” Jack remembers.  

The two began working together on special projects for the ReStore.  

“There were a couple of needs that arose, and he said, ‘Oh well, I’ve got this computer program. If I don’t use it on a regular basis, I’ll forget how to use it. So let me just try and mockup some things.’” Peter said. “One thing led to another, and we started realizing these projects he had designed electronically,” Jack said.

The ReStore often receives products out of their original boxes and they can be difficult to display. At the time, Jack recalls struggling to find ways to both display and transport pedestal sinks.  

The pair devised a cart the could both display the sinks and transport them to the loading docks after purchase. Those carts are still in use today and have served as an inspiration for a wide variety of carts for the ReStore.  

Instead of buying new material for these special projects, the first place Jack and Peter look for materials is the dumpster.  

“I have a background in art and dumpsters were a great source of material when I was in college,” Peter said.

There is often leftover wood from the Atlanta Habitat Warehouse or crates used to transport some of the donations. They collect the wood and repurpose it for carts and other projects.  

Beyond improving the display and transport of products in the ReStore, Peter has also found a way to repurpose some products that would not sell well on their own.  

“There’s been a case where we had an excess of doorknobs and we worked out making a display, little plaques with doorknobs, and selling those as an on-the-side item,” Peter said.  

Currently Peter is constructing a series of carts that will serve as stationary displays for TVs and microwaves but can be flipped to a mobile display for other items as needed.  

“It’s just an incredible experience to work with someone who is dedicated to helping other people in some way, shape or form, no matter how big, no matter how small,” Peter said.