NARI Cares outfits Children Helping Children’s groovy new LOVETRAIN 

It’s a lot of fun to talk about renos, paint colors and finishes, but when the upgrades hold a higher purpose, that conversation may be priceless. 

That’s what is happening right now among members of NARI Atlanta. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry recently launched NARI Atlanta Foundation, Inc., a philanthropic arm aimed at connecting its members with opportunities to make an impact on their community, appropriately called NARI Cares. 

The talk is all about their first project—an all-hands-on-deck to benefit Children Helping Children (CHC), a local nonprofit that empowers philanthropy-minded youth to help other kids. NARI’s job: renovating the organization’s new Airstream.

Dubbed the LOVETRAIN, CHC bought the groovy trailer to get their program “rolling” again after 2020 put them up against diminishing face-to-face opportunities. The Airstream provides a new way to get more donations to more children and create smaller, safer programming for kids. As an emblem of outreach and service—how cool to see a rainbow-wrapped Airstream pulling into the bus lanes at school—it upgrades the standard collection site to something packed with contagious energy. It’s also a lot bigger than a cardboard box.

It’s also a shell right now, but once renovations are complete, the LOVETRAIN will travel to schools, festivals and wellness centers as a mobile collection center for other nonprofit organizations or charity efforts. LOVETRAIN will also help children on the receiving end of these donations via an experience inside the Airstream centered around art therapy or intimate wellness initiatives. 

“NARI Cares has graciously offered to single-handedly build out the construction of our LOVETRAIN, providing full labor and most of the materials needed for the build,” said Michelle Hodgson, founder of CHC. “They’re using their resources and talents to give back in a way that is meaningful to their industry; and they are using the very thing they are best at to help in ways that would be very difficult for those of us that don’t know how to build anything.”

“If more for-profit businesses could understand the importance of their reach in their community, more nonprofits would be better supported,” she added. “NARI Cares is modeling what any for profit company could do—using their skills to make a powerful impact on the community. An impact that we are so thankful for!” 

Visit www.chcatlanta.org to stay up to date on the Airstream renovations and learn how you can help.