Tag Archives: recycle

Giving Hope to Your Neighbors… It’s in the Bag

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We are so excited to share that The Hope Center at Hagerstown Rescue Mission is nowMARTINSBagAngle-294x300 participating in the Martin’s Giving Tag Program, which is designed to make it easy for customers of Martin’s stores to contribute to the local community while supporting the environment.

This opportunity can be taken advantage of at any Martin’s store. All you have to do is purchase a $2.50 reusable Bags 4 My Cause Bag, follow the instructions on the attached Giving Tag and The Hope Center will receive a $1 donation!

It’s really that simple! Just purchase the high quality reusable bag and register it within 7 days of purchase for The Hope Center to receive the donation. Then fill your bag with all the great products Martin’s has to offer!

Please help us by spreading the word to your friends, family, coworkers, church group, civic club and all your contacts on social media.

To learn more about Martin’s or find a store please visit http://www.martinsfoods.com.

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One Major Breakdown, Multiple Headaches & Eight Good Samaritans

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In May the baler in our Recycling Program broke down and was inoperable for approximately 3 weeks. While the baler was broke down our Recycling Center got backed up with piles of cardboard that we were unable to bale and truck away.

But then God sent a few good Samaritans, or angels even, to help us get back on track. But before we get to that act of kindness, maybe we should get you up to speed on what exactly our Recycling Center does.

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Most of you know all about the various ministries, programs and services at The Hope Center. But one area that many of you might not be as familiar with – or never even knew existed – is our Recycling Center.

Our Recycling Center is open M-F from 9am – 2pm (closed for lunch 11:30-12:30) and Saturday 9am – 11:30am. Our Recycling Center is manned by one of our Foundations Life Recovery program residents who is assigned to the baling room area of our Recycling Center as a part of the work assignment in the rehabilitation program. The program men who work the baling room are trained to operate the baler and also gain certification to operate a forklift.

The job of the Recycling Center attendant is to receive donations of cardboard; break down boxes; fill baler with the flattened cardboard; bale the cardboard and wrap with baling wires; and finally unload and stack the bales. At 33-36 bales we schedule a truck to pick them up.

In addition to recycling cardboard we also recycle old clothing and rags. The process for baling clothing is the same as cardboard. Now, you may be wondering what clothing ends up in the Recycling Center – good question! Any clothing that we are not able to sell in our Thrift Stores or donate to locals or missions agencies is sent to the baling room to be recycled into something new.  While we do recycle clothing and rags, we recycle much more cardboard because we try to find as many uses for clothing as possible before recycling it.

The Recycling Center is an important, but generally invisible, part of our ministry. So the unfortunate break down of our baler caused quite a few headaches.

And that’s when God sent Terry Izer to help! Terry is the Maintenance Service Manager,  Hagerstown Regional Maintenance of the Maryland Department of Public Safety. But he’s also the husband of Aimee, the manager of our Thrift Stores and Sorting Department at The Hope Center.

Terry is basically a jack of all trades and a master of them all! On top of his busy work schedule and his personal hobbies and family life, Terry lends a helping hand around The Hope Center whenever there’s a need. And this time we had a desperate need that Terry was just the man for. Terry gave of his time to volunteer to help repair our baler.

Even though Terry worked his magic and repaired our baler, the backup of cardboard was already an overwhelming job for our one worker. So Terry put the word out to some of his employees that help was needed to bale up the cardboard that had piled up.

After working their 7am – 3pm shift on Thursday, June 6th, six of his men came in to help get the job done! What a huge blessing these men were to The Hope Center!

We want to thank Steve Staley & Andy Koontz, welders who helped repair the baler, Bob Stine, Randy Mills, Mark Thomas, Marty Kending, Matt Reel, and of course, Terry Izer for all their help and their volunteering spirit!

 

Happy Earth Day!

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“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31a

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Today is the day that America, and the rest of the world, focuses on this incredible planet that we live on.

While some of the focus is spent worshiping the creation, as Christians we can celebrate Earth Day by worshiping the Creator.

Celebrating Earth Day is a wonderful opportunity to remind our children, friends and community about how beautifully, wonderfully and intricately the earth was created.

With each flower that blooms, each bird that chirps, each river that flows, and each web that’s spun, God has His hand in every delicate detail of this fascinating planet.

And when we look at the complexity of every life form on this planet, and the delicate nature of this incredible ecosystem, we must recognize the fact that it was designed so brilliantly and done so with such care and love.

Because of the love that God put into His creation, we as humans, and especially followers of Christ, must do our best to preserve and protect His creation.

Even at The Hope Center, we are helping to protect God’s creation by recycling clothing, shoes, purses, metal, paper and cardboard. By recycling these materials, we are protecting the unnecessary demolition of forests while also saving valuable land from being turned into trash dumps.

Recycled bales of cardboard weigh, on average, 850-1100 pounds. We recycle approximately 36 bales every 2 months. Bales of clothing weigh, on average, 900-1200 pounds. We recycle approximately 39 bales every 3 months.

Clothing is sent to Third World nations to be handed out by missions groups and humanitarian organizations to help provide the basic of physical needs to people who just don’t have the ability to clothe themselves.

It’s important that we worship our creative God by protecting, as best we can, this wonderful creation that He gave us dominion over.

So take some time to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation today.  Look up at the sun, stop to smell the beautiful flowers in bloom, walk through the green grass and pause to thank the Creator for such an elaborate and brilliantly designed world for us to enjoy! And remember that each animal, insect, tree and flower and everything else that you see has been spoken into existance by the same God that knows you inside & out and loves you more than you can imagine!

A Little Spring Cleaning

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The birds are chirping. The flowers are blooming. And everyone’s allergies are out-of-control. This can only mean one thing: it’s spring!!!

Spring is such a wonderful time of year as we watch God bring the earth back to life. Seeing green grass again. Enjoying the warmth of the sun once more. Spring is always a welcomed season.

And with the arrival of spring comes the annual tradition: spring cleaning. As you start to go through your house, room by room, getting rid of unnecessary items, please keep us in mind!

If you are interested in donating various items to The Hope Center, here is some info you should know:

Furniture is accepted at the rear of the Thrift Store (central parking lot off of Church St) from 9AM – 4:30PM Monday – Saturday. Please do not leave items on the dock unattended, especially after business hours.

Furniture Items Accepted– beds (frames, headboards, footboards, mattresses* & box springs), couches, upholstered* chairs, dining tables and chairs, small tables (end tables & coffee tables), desks and chairs and dressers. We also accept rugs, bicycles, exercise equipment, wheelchairs and other handicap equipment.

*We cannot accept mattresses or upholstered furniture that is torn, stained or covered in pet hair.

Donation drop dock at our sorting building

Clothing & Miscellaneous– items accepted at the rear of the parking lot Monday – Saturday from approximately 8:30AM – 4:30PM (between 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM there is no assistance to unload vehicle. You may still drop off items but if you require assistance please come before or after.) Please do not leave items unattended on the dock after business hours.

Items NOT Accepted– wet clothing, computers, floor model televisions (we do take other TV’s as long as they work), floor model stereos, office telephones (multiple line phones) refrigerators and freezers, washers and dryers, dishwashers, stoves, sinks and toilets, large wooden or metal desks (office), upright pianos, large organs, cribs (due to government regulations for resale), waterbed mattresses or frames and used ceiling/electric fixtures.

We accept corrugated cardboard and newspapers at our Baling Facility Monday – Friday from 8:30AM – 11:30AM and 12:30 PM-1:30PM and on Saturday from 8:30AM – 11:30AM.

If you have items to donate that are not listed or you have questions about certain items, please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net. We do have a truck that can pick-up your items. Each day our truck covers a specific area of town. If you’d like to schedule a pick-up, please call 301.739.1165 to get more details.

You can get a receipt for tax purposes by making a list of items donated. Please remember to put your name & address on the list!! Your list can be turned in at the Thrift Store or you can get a form to fill out in the Thrift Store. You will receive your tax-deductible receipt by mail in two to three weeks.

Thank you so much for your generous donations to The Hope Center! These items will help families and individuals in your community in many different ways.