In late November 2016, the EPCAMR Executive Director received good news from Valerie Stewart, Executive Assistant for Community Aid, Inc., a 501 (c)(3), nonprofit organization with the primary purpose of raising funds for distribution to local schools, churches, synagogues, temples and nonprofit charitable organizations. Community Aid aspires to serve their community by creating good paying jobs and providing onsite training and coaching for their employees. They desire to improve the quality of life for individuals and families in their service area by providing clothing and cash grants directly to their partnerships formed by churches and nonprofit charitable organizations. EPCAMR was recently provided a check for $5000 in December, almost like an early Christmas present, to allow our EPCAMR Staff to coordinate and fund at least 5 cleanups on abandoned mine sites and in watersheds impacted by past mining throughout the EPCAMR Region in 2017. Funds will be used for some Staff time, supplies, refreshments, tools, dumpsters, and hauling fees. We’ve labeled the project “Cleaning Our Anthracite Land & Streams (COALS)” Program, after a similar State effort many years ago that we were a part of under a previous administration to perform similar work.
EPCAMR will encourage our volunteer participants from our new RECLAIM Crew and others to bring us bags of used clothes that we can then add to our bins for additional weight and eventual distribution to the thrift stores around the region run by Community Aid. Potential cleanup sites that we are looking at targeting in 2017 are in the City of Wilkes-Barre (Spring Run), City of Nanticoke (Nanticoke Creek), Sugar Notch Borough (Sugar Notch Run), Newport Township (Newport Creek), Centralia Borough (Centralia-where we have led 3 successful cleanups over the last several years), and possibly, along the Delaware & Lehigh Rail Trail, in partnership with the North Branch Land Trust, who just recently acquired the rail bed from the Earth Conservancy, within the Laurel Run watershed. EPCAMR just recently completed the Laurel Run Coldwater Conservation Plan for the entire watershed and are aware of the illegal dumping along the rail corridor from our assessment of the fishery and surrounding landscapes. EPCAMR has many existing partners in all of the communities already and look forward to working with them again this year, including the City of Wilkes-Barre, City of Nanticoke, Newport Township, Newport Township Community Organization, Newport Township CrimeWatch Organization, Wilkes University, King’s College, Earth Conservancy, Sugar Notch Borough, Luzerne Conservation District, and the North Branch Land Trust, to name a few.
EPCAMR is a Non-Profit Partner with Community Aid and has bins placed throughout the region where donations of gently used clothes, toys, and other items can be dropped off. Jeff Crum, EPCAMR Community Volunteer, and employee from Community Aid, has assisted in finding locations for proper bin placement over the last year several years and has been a tremendous help during our Centralia Cleanups. EPCAMR is constantly looking for additional bin placements with local small businesses or areas where large lots are available. If you are interested in hosting a bin for EPCAMR, and becoming a nonprofit and charitable partner, click here for more information.
By partnering with Community Aid, non-profits agree to allow Community Aid to place a clothing collection bin on their property or other locations visible to the public. Easily recognizable, Community Aid bins are tan and feature three helping hands. The donated clothing in the bins is removed several times each week and sold in Community Aid thrift stores. Based on the weight of the clothing in each bin, the non-profit is awarded with a quarterly cash donation per pound.
In addition, partners receive free clothing vouchers (Care Cards) for the needy in their area, which can be used in one of Community Aid’s thrift stores. Following six months of partnership, the organization is eligible to apply for a grant of up to $5000 during announced grant application periods. Partnerships are also open to local businesses. When a business agrees to place a clothing bin on their property, EPCAMR would encourage that they choose us to receive the quarterly donations from that particular bin. Business partners have found that allowing a Community Aid bin on their property demonstrates their interest in the community while drawing more foot traffic to their business. The partnership between Community Aid and EPCAMR have meant that we have been able to continue to improve the quality of life for individuals and families in our local coalfield communities.
Trash picked up from the Green Trail along the Mocanaqua Loop Trail on the Pinchot State Forest Lands, outside of Lee.
“At some point, EPCAMR, our partners, and our volunteers are going to be able to say that we’ve cleaned up and maintained hundreds of cleaner and greener environmental landscapes throughout the coal region that have been littered for decades until someone decided to care enough to do something about the historic problem. EPCAMR had decided many years ago that we were going to be that “someone” and build the partnerships necessary with other local non-profit organizations, conservation groups, State, County, Local, and Municipal entities to reclaim these abandoned mines and the stream and rail corridors that had become the dumping grounds for far too long!” exclaimed, Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. “EPCAMR has a 20 year history of reclaiming past mining landscapes and leveraging funds from multiple sources to successfully complete projects like this on the ground with community volunteers. It’s very hard not to get behind an effort in these communities like this when everyone else is behind you, supports your cause and mission, and looks forward to getting out there and getting their hands dirty for the benefit of their own community, their neighbors helping neighors, and for the protection and reclamation of the environment.” emphasized Robert. Planning on these cleanup efforts will begin after the New Year with Staff during their monthly meetings. Stay tuned.
You must be logged in to post a comment.