Transforming Waste into Community Treasure
Our program focuses on repurposing discarded items through recycling, repair, upcycling, and redistribution to other organizations in our community that need and can use these resources. Join us in our mission to empower nonprofits and businesses to conserve resources and build a stronger, more resilient community together.
Our Mission:
REBUILD is dedicated to enhancing community resilience by facilitating collaboration between various nonprofit groups and private businesses.
Through our innovative program, we empower nonprofits and other community organizations to do more with limited time, energy and money while diverting natural resources away from becoming waste. Our volunteers help identify and divert items that would otherwise be landfill-bound. These items are then recycled, repaired, upcycled or redistributed to their “highest and best use”
Some potential examples:
A walker is donated to ReTails thrift store. It is transferred to A Caring Closet and skilled volunteers tune up and ready it for donation to a community member in need.
Amongst the donations to the Habitat store is a table that needs a bit of shoring up. A volunteer searches for the correct fastener and spends a few moments converting the table from something that would have been thrown away to something that can now be sold in the store.
Paint brushes and some other art supplies that would have ended up in the dumpster are identified and recovered by volunteers and donated to local school districts to be used in art classes.
Our Partners
Our Rebuild Program partners, including ReTails, Habitat For Humanity Store, and A Caring Closet, are instrumental in driving our mission forward. By working together, we not only divert valuable resources from landfills but also extend the life of countless items, ensuring they reach those in need.
Your Role
The volunteer roles are evolving, and we anticipate many changes as this program grows. We also enthusiastically encourage ideas from any program participants, so if you have a specific interest or passion, please reach out! At the current time, we have identified the following roles:
Admin:
Funding research: help us identify possible funding sources we should be pursuing
Partner research: help us reach out to various community organizations, identify their current needs and audit/offer current excess items
Data entry: help us keep accurate records by inputting data collected from diversion/waste audits/program activities
Recycling:
Metal recycling*: disassemble and ready certain types of metal for recycling
Paper and other “curbside” recyclables: help us divert paper products to be able to be recycled instead of thrown away. This might be something simple like breaking down and transferring cardboard boxes or removing non-paper items from collection bins
Film plastic*: help us by transferring collected film plastic to a local recycling option
Battery recycling: help us by transferring discarded batteries to the transfer station
*there is also a need for recycling program development for these items, so if you have an interest in this, please let us know!
Repair:
As repairable items come in to various program partners, we will need some volunteers to triage the repairs, determine if they are quick or longer duration, if they can be done “in house” or need to be sent out to various repair volunteers and then returned after they have been completed.
Beyond triage, small repairs of all types of items, to be sold in store or redistributed to other orgs that can use them
Redistribution:
As certain items are collected (eg durable medical equipment donations for A Caring Closet) we will need volunteers to transfer these materials at some regular interval (eg once weekly, every other week, etc)
As the REBUILD program evolves and grows, we anticipate many more roles for volunteers. For example, we’d like to have some educational components in the future, such as workshops and mentoring those needing to build employment skills. We envision the REBUILD program to be an integral part of a resilient future for our community as well as a model that can be replicated in other communities.
We hope you’ll consider being a part of this vision in whatever way fires you up! This program will have real and tangible benefits immediately. You will see and know the difference you’re making for our community and our natural resources every time you volunteer with us.
For more details, please click here