Chic Lumber Delivers Hope to Local Families

At Chic Lumber, building the community takes place both inside and outside the store. The family-owned Do it Best Corp. member business has been in the St. Louis, Missouri, community for more than 40 years but still finds new ways to give back, with a particular focus on local families.

In 2015, Chic Lumber opened a 7,000-square-foot design and conference center. The space serves as a showroom for Chic Lumber and local contractors, but it also provides a space for community groups to gather. Chic Lumber allows church groups, youth sports leagues, and other community organizations to use the conference space free of charge.

As a family-owned business, Chic Lumber does even more outside its store for local families. The company has donated building materials for a new home building project in St. Louis to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude famously does not charge families for the lifesaving care it provides to children.

On a more personal level, Chic Lumber President Adam Hendrix and his own family have committed to helping other families in crisis throughout the community. Their private foundation, Justin Delivers Hope, raises money and awareness for the prevention of heroin and opiate abuse.

The Hendrix family launched Justin Delivers Hope following the death of their son, Justin Hendrix, in 2017 to a heroin overdose. The foundation works to increase the availability of Narcan, a nasal spray that counteracts the effects of opioid overdose, and to provide other resources for the community. Last year, Justin Delivers Hope raised $35,000 to provide the Wentzville, Missouri, police department with a K-9 unit for increased drug-detection capabilities.

“We’re doing what we can to fight this at the ground level,” Adam Hendrix told ECI Software Solutions last year. For his efforts with the foundation, Hendrix was awarded ECI’s Everyday Hero Award in 2019. According to its website, the award recognizes customers who make a difference in the lives of others.

For Hendrix, this work is both personal and local. “Missouri is in the heart of this battle,” he said of the opioid crisis. “I promise that everybody that lives in a subdivision has someone down their street that is dealing with this problem. It’s that widespread.”

After losing his son, Hendrix and his family felt strongly about supporting other families in their community. “I could become a recluse, or I could do something about it,” he said. “It gives me a reason to get out of bed every morning and keep going.”

Local business is often personal: Hendrix and Chic Lumber are a prime example. In building the community, they go beyond the store to support local families and causes. For more information about Chic Lumber, visit www.chiclumber.com.