Live, Love, and Serve in the Image of Christ
PAR Recycle-Works says Thank You!
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Maurice Jones, Operations Manager at PAR, thanks the St. Jude community for the excellent response during our e-waste collection on Saturday, March 26. “A lot of people showed up, and we had a steady flow throughout the day, sometimes 8-cars deep.” Asked what the most common items delivered were, he said, “Printers. We always get lots of printers.” He also said there were many flat-screen tvs, because people just don’t know what to do with them. “There’s lead in the screen and mercury in the tube, which have to be properly disposed of.” For this reason, tvs and computer monitors have a fee attached to them, because disposal of those components is regulated and involves an expensive process.
Asked how people can help, Maurice shared, “Financial help is always appreciated, because it costs on average $5,000 to sponsor each person out of prison. We pay them a good wage, $14-$18 per hour, and provide them with a computer, digital/computer training, financial literacy, and help with acquiring a drivers license or any other necessary paperwork or skills. Our goal is to set them up for success. Donations can be by check or online, at par-recycleworks.org/support-us.
“Jobs are another way to help. Our transitional workers have a variety of skills, such as shipping/receiving, deconstruction, transportation, warehousing, forklift, and varying degrees of computer skills.”
Finally, PAR can use volunteers. At our event, Felicia Bloom came as a volunteer and spoke to each driver who brought items. Felicia was the friendly face who greeted you, collected fees for tvs and monitors, directed cars, and gave you a receipt for your taxes.
Asked about how she got involved, Felicia said, “I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer and was really impressed. As a retired nurse, I like to volunteer to help people, so I called to see how I could help. Besides helping out, I like to bake something for the guys, because most of them haven’t had a homemade cookie or brownie in a long time and it just makes them feel great. To me, PAR is a win-win-win: you get to declutter, protect the environment, and help people reintegrate into society all at the same time. PAR is doing really important work and I’m happy to give up my Saturday to help them. They can’t do it all themselves. They need help.”
If you would like to help PAR in any way, through volunteering, donating, or providing job opportunities, visit par-recycleworks.org or contact Maurice Jones at [email protected].
PAR will have a community collection day at the New Britain Township Building on May 7, so spread the word about this great organization!
