‘Woodworking Warriors’ Say Thanks to Adrian Friends with Charging Kiosk

A donation, an outreach, a new friendship—all leading to another donation. That’s the Circle of Life, Friends-style.

It all started last fall when an anonymous donor gave almost 200 high-quality books about woodworking to the Friends of the Adrian District Library. They were useful books in great condition—but we were unlikely to move them in our small ongoing book sale.

We reached out to the Woodworking Warriors (www.WoodworkingForWarriors.org), a group that offers training and workshop time to area veterans at no charge. Dedicated to “helping veterans find purpose, healing, camaraderie and personal growth,” the group had recently moved to a new space. They were looking to start an on-site library with project plans and tool guidance for their members, many of whom want to work with wood but don’t know what they’d like to make. A deal was struck, a relationship was formed.

But it doesn’t end there. On the way out the Library door with the last box of books, one of the Warriors said, “If you ever need anything made of wood, let us know.” As a matter of fact….

Now we go back to 2023. The Library staff was tired of “loaning” charging cords to patrons who often failed to turn them back in. In response, the Friends purchased three floor-standing charging kiosks with multiple cables, and these were distributed through the building. Two years later, one of the kiosks had been severely damaged. The charging device was fine, but the stand made it unusable.

Enter the Woodworking Warriors. They took away a broken fiberboard and acrylic kiosk and returned a few weeks later with a work of fine woodcraft—and refused to accept payment. It’s beautiful. It works. We’re so grateful.

We don’t know the name of our book donor, and we don’t know the name of the veteran who mended our kiosk. But we’re grateful to be a small cog in the machine that holds our community together.