Handmade from Home, for the Community

- From Responsibility to Renewal

Eunseo’s Wood Story is a handcrafted woodworking project created by me, Eunseo Whaong, a high school student at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey.

I live in a home surrounded by wooden fences and trees, on a quiet corner across from an elementary school and a park.

With children’s footsteps and passing voices filling the street each day, caring for the space around our home has always felt like a quiet responsibility—one rooted in safety and care for the community.

Except during the winter, my dad and I spend our weekends trimming the trees that grow a little too freely in our garden. As branches are cut back and set aside, I began to notice the wood being left behind—pieces that had done their job, now waiting to be discarded. I found myself wondering if they might still have a story to tell.

That question became the beginning of Eunseo’s Wood Story in 2024.
In our small home workshop, I began shaping those overlooked pieces into something new. Guided by each piece’s natural grain, color, and form, no two creations are ever the same. What once came from an ordinary moment of responsibility slowly becomes something meant to be held, used, and kept.

For me, woodworking is a way of listening—to the material, to the rhythm of care, and to the quiet meaning in everyday acts. A portion of the proceeds is donated to nonprofits supporting children with autism, so that each piece can extend its purpose beyond the workshop. Through Eunseo’s Wood Story, I hope even the simplest materials can be transformed into something warm, lasting, and shared