On Saturday Shellharbour welcomed the launch of Restor’d Worthy Goods for a Worthy Cause store, which donates 100 per cent of its profits to orphan ministries around the world.

Combining a long held passion to help children with that of interiors and decoration, Shani and her husband Rick Smith set about designing a store that utilised donated or cheap furniture that they upcycle into quirky items and then sold.

Store owner, Shani Smith said the concept for the store was a long held dream.

“I’ve always loved children, and when I landed in Uganda in 2010 on a mission trip with a local church to help build a school for orphaned children, I met one of my sponsored children in her home,” she said.

“She was sitting in the dark, in her house of mud brick, the clothes on her back the only ones she owned. Four years old and all alone, while her mother was out digging in the fields miles away.

“It was at that moment that I knew we had to do more, and that’s when this dream was born. Why should we live with everything when these children have nothing?”

Shani said she hoped the Illawarra would see the store as a “decorator exchange”. 

“Bring us your tired and out-dated furniture and pick up a refreshed piece to match your new décor,” she said. 

“We aim to keep our pieces relevant with in vogue items in upscale furniture stores, without the price tag.”

Restor’d Worthy Goods for a Worthy Cause is located at 152 New Lake Entrance Road, Shellharbour.