This review is regarding volunteer experiences at the Regional Food Bank…read more I've volunteered at the food bank about 8 times with a service organization (we have an ongoing monthly "date" scheduled with them) and overall my experience there has been positive. The people are generally friendly and flexible. Volunteer duties generally involve sorting and re-packaging donated goods for distribution to local charities. If you're looking for ways to contribute to the community, this is a good place to go. Approximately 75% of the food bank's labor hours are provided by volunteers so they're open and appreciative of volunteers.

This is an excellent place to volunteer. You email them to sign up, they get back to you in a…read morereasonable amount of time. When you show up they are ready for you with a plan and they are thankful for your help. There is plenty of work to do while you are there so you feel like you are making a difference but they do not compel you to stay longer than your assigned shift- which I appreciate. You work hard for the time you are their and they respect your time. They do great work in the community and I am happy to have helped them out on three occasions now. I look forward to returning.

I am a Subaru ambassador and today I certainly felt like a "captain" dropping off care packages for…read morethose in need. Everyone was beyond kind and appreciative to the fact that I donated. I will most certainly continue donating to this shelter for those in need. Thank you CAPTAIN!

Thank you to the lady who answers the phone. She helped my parents in a tight situation with father…read morehomebound and mother was being treated with serious psychiatric issues at the hospital with grown kid only able to temporarily come snd help due to a stressful job across the USA and another abroad. My parents sometimes cannot communicate right but she was able to help them. Thank you to all the food preps and drivers and all involved. May all who can donate for such a wonderful service to homebound elderly. They also help those during temporary homebound times and also have no/low/normal salt and I think diabetic meals. My parents said they were very good Too. Thank you

What Ann M is saying is absolutely untrue..I'm a resident and I've had a wonderful experienc..the…read morepeople are very nice and helpful the food is good and cleanliness is important it's a shame that some people are so unhappy with their lifes that they have to make false comment..The open door mission is a great place for people who need help Thank You Scott Johnson

Exhaust all other avenues before you come to this dirty death pit. The only positive is that you…read morewon't freeze to death....the rest will suck the life and hope out of you..death would be kinder than becoming part of that population! It's a filthy unsanitary spiritually bereft environment of street bums ...drunks and drug addicts mainly and a few glaring mentally ill people with a few people sprinkled in that are trying to live that are faced w some kind of crisis... financial mainly. Anyhow I was stranded at this dump for 6 weeks ....all motels were full that had weekly rates from Albany to Canada ...and other shelters would only take people in their county. I have open lesions on my arms from the grotesquely bacteria ridden unsanitary blankets and towels they dole out and threw out the clothing I had while there...I luckily did not get the upper respiratory sickness that was spreading thru there ....but was sick for a couple days due to the unsanitary conditions and close proximity to others...and it was impossible to be clean while in this dump. I was threatened daily by some street thug bcuz he was jealous I owned a car and I reported his menacing to all of the staff and was met w apathy. Bad behavior and poor personal hygiene are promoted by the staff....I have been out of that hellhole for just over two weeks and been taking Epsom salt baths to detox from the filthy of that place and for the sores on my arms caused by the filthy towels and blankets...also healing from the trauma of just being there amongst madness ....apathy.. disgusting smells and sights and watching people deteriorating day by day....I reported them to the board of health and building and code for the bathroom situation ie...one bathroom and one shower for 25 to 30 individuals and one cold room w pads on the floor ....poorly run and the food is / was hideous...luckily I have a income and was able to buy food...

Not great. Sloppy and rushed. High priced junk and sloppy place. Parking is next to impossible. The…read moredays of finding bargains are long gone.

High priced junk and sloppy place. Parking is next to impossible. The days of finding bargains are…read morelong gone.

When I wanted to donate a sofa and matching loveseat that were in very good condition, I contacted…read moreHabitat and left an email message. I received an email back in a reasonable amount of time considering how busy they must be. The person in charge of donations asked me to send a photo (which is totally understandable) before pick up was approved. Shortly after, an appointment time was set for pick up. I had the furniture placed in the garage as requested. The truck came within the designated time, and furniture was taken to the truck efficiently. I would say it was "professional operation." When it was picked up, one of the two men said, "This furniture is in great condition. Thank you for your kind donation and for thinking of us." I was happy to donate to a good cause and will continue to do so. Three years ago we donated oak kitchen cabinets when our kitchen was remodeled. I saw that they were sold for $550. I was pleased to help an organization with such an outstanding mission.

This review is for ReStore, the store front for used furniture and recycled fixtures and appliances…read morethat Habitat for Humanity runs in downtown Schenectady. Habitat itself is an outstanding organization and does great work. The H for H offices are located on Pearl, so this should be recategorized in Yelp as Home Furnishings / Retail Furniture, not Contractor Services. First off, hours: Thursday 10-6, Friday and Saturday 10-3. Tip: if you come early on Thursday, you'll have your best chance of getting pick of the new stock for the week, since they're closed the other days but continue to collect donations. So this is basically a thrift store specializing in furniture. It's everything you'd expect from a place that runs on donations. The stock is not by any means new or in style, but they do a good job in filtering out items so you don't have any dirty or unusually smelly items. Some of the items I looked at were broken or had significant flaws, but they for the most part seem to have filtered out truly unusable stuff. They do have a little bit of everything, and the repurposed fixtures (including doors and windows) are probably the cheapest you'll find anywhere. I had a little difficulty at first getting appropriate help - there were many volunteers but they had to find the chief guy in charge to do pricing for me, and they kept asking me the same questions about the items I picked out (as to whether they belonged in a set or not, like that matters for very used furniture) - but it's hard to quibble with volunteers on the basis of the service. They tried, even if they weren't as organized about things as they could be. Be patient with this sort of thing if you go in. If Design on a Dime ever does a Schenectady show, they'll love it here. I have a lot of fun speculating about previous owners of many of these items. (I really got a hoot about the five-piece living room set I saw on my most recent visit, where there was a built-in Stereophonic Console in the corner table unit. 1966, here we come!!) I also urge you if you do go, round up on your purchases and throw the extra money into the donation kitty. This group builds houses for people, and does it in a way that brings the people who will live in the house and own it into the building process. It may be unfortunate that this is needed, but it is, and doing a little shopping here can help this effort while helping yourself. One caveat: from the blank expressions I got when I asked if they check for bed bugs on the furniture upholstery, I'm going to guess that they do not do their own screening here. So given the reality of bed bugs and older pieces of furniture, I urge you to check for yourself. This is true for any used furniture these days. Update: adding a fourth star after multiple visits - the stock really does zing in and out (well, some of it) and Thursday mornings are definitely your best bet. The second floor, which I neglected earlier, has miscellaneous small fixtures, lamps, plumbing stuff, and so forth.