Thanks to a $250,000 grant from Republic Services, an environmental company that handles recycling and waste, A Wider Circle is upping its efforts to ensure that needy area residents have beds and other furniture.
A Wider Circle is a social justice organization with the goal of creating equity for those living in poverty, explained Janet Daily, chief inventory strategies partnership officer.
That organization on Brookville Road in Silver Spring used the grant to purchase a forklift, truck and pallet rack that will enable volunteers to store more donations.
Besides providing the funding, on Aug. 14 about 70 Republic Services employees spent the day volunteering at A Wider Circle. The day was so successful that there are plans for employees to volunteer several times per year, said Michael Davis, Republic general manager at its Capital Heights, Md. site.
Daily praised the volunteers. “They were energetic. They were helpful. They were thoughtful.”
Republic chose A Wider Circle as one of its 15 National Neighborhood Promise grantees because of its efforts to assist those in need while sending fewer items into landfills, Davis said.
“We felt that what they donate, how they go about giving to the community, was an excellent example of recycling,” Davis said. A Wider Circle is able to keep a lot of items from ending up in the landfill while helping those in need, he said.
A Wider Circle often receives donations of items, including casual clothing, it doesn’t use. So it partners with area non-profits to ensure that these donations also find a needy home.
On Thursday, Community Forklift, a nonprofit reuse warehouse, picked up 75 mini refrigerators A Wider Circle had received with plans to hand them out, especially to people whose medicines must be kept cold.
A Wider Circle also gives some donations to Habitat for Humanity, Homes Not Borders and Lighthouse D.C., Daily said.
“We take our responsibility to our environment very serious,” Daily said.
“We get hundreds of calls every day” for mattresses and furniture, she said. However, her organization is able to serve only between 15 and 20 people per day. But with the new equipment and pallets that will provide more storage, she is hopeful that will increase.
A Wider Circle receives all its furniture and mattresses through donations, including from hotels and universities. Normally hotels and universities throw out mattresses every five to seven years, regardless of their condition.
However, A Wider Circle gives out seven that appear only mildly used, Daily said. Only the broken ones are sent to the landfill, she noted.
She estimated that 75% of those receiving items from her organization have no beds at all in their homes. They average about $12,000 per year in income, she added.
There are no requirements to receiving the items, she said, adding that while most of the furniture and mattresses are used by Montgomery and Prince George’s counties residents, some people come from as far as West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Besides furniture donations, A Wider Circle has a Career Support program to help those seeking employment. In D.C.’s Ward 8, it offers workshops, health screenings and micro grants. It also provides assistance so people can become financially stable and independent.
