Part of the mission of Civitan is to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs. At our recent meeting, the Civitan creed was introduced to our arc Ambassador Civitan Club and we learned that this creed is our guiding light as we reach out in service of others.

All of the men and women that work in the various law enforcement agencies do exactly that…reach out in service of others. As our group thought about the many risks police officers take to keep watch over our community, we decided to spend an afternoon creating big thank you posters to show them how much we appreciate their dedication. We had a magnificent time working together and being creative with our posters. One of the Civitan creeds says, “MY MIND teaches me respect for the law and the flag of my country.” We want to let law enforcement officers know that no matter how perilous their jobs can be, we recognize and appreciate the many sacrifices they make for all of us. We look forward to personally delivering our thank you posters to them.

In addition to making the posters, our president Michelle asked for additional ideas for future projects that will help serve our community. The ideas were flying all over the room. Everyone had several really great ideas and the group is very excited to get the ball rolling for our next assignment. Elnaz, our club secretary, provided us notes from our previous meeting and studiously kept track of all the ideas presented. Club members also received their official Civitan International Club t-shirt.

Every meeting we attend going forward, we will recite the Civitan Creed to remind us of the commitment we have made to reach out in service of others.

Brian Tasler

April 22 is Earth Day. While the arc team LOVES this special day, the truth is that we celebrate our Earth EVERY day!!

Arc Thrift stores receive many donations each day. A lot of these donations are sold in stores, but a certain amount of them do not sell after five weeks, and go to the warehouse to be recycled. One of arc’s main missions is to keep donations out of landfills and to recycle unwanted materials in the proper manner. A lot of items that reach the warehouse to be recycled still have the chance to be of use to someone else. That is why we send a lot of the donations overseas to countries that make great use of these unwanted items.

When items leave a store after their time is up, they are bundled and brought to the warehouse. Clothing is one of the biggest items recycled, totaling around 1.1 million pounds of recycled and repurposed clothing each week. These clothes are sent to many different countries such as Pakistan, India, and China. Even if the clothes are not re-worn, they are broken down into textiles and repurposed, staying out of the landfills.

Many other items come into the warehouse such as shoes, belts, purses, stuffed animals, kitchenware, electronics, books, and more. All of these items are recycled and re-used by someone else, making sure your donations are getting used to their fullest potential.

Brian Tasler is the warehouse manager who oversees all of the complicated operations on the recycling side. Brian has been with arc for about two years, but he has worked for nonprofit organizations for ten years. Each day Brian coordinates with operations to properly execute the recycling of materials, and helps to load the truck with his team. One of Brian’s main jobs is also to go to stores and educate the employees on the proper recycling steps to make sure everyone across the company is on the same page.

Many nonprofits come to the warehouse as well to repurpose these items for their own nonprofits. People like Jim White, who takes the books about to be recycled and finds them new homes by giving them to children in need. Another nonprofit comes to take unwanted stuffed animals and re-gifts them.

Every step in the recycling process is aimed to reduce the amount of garbage in landfills and put these things to better use. About 28 million pounds are recycled by arc each year. Arc can find a home or new use for it all, and almost nothing goes to waste.

Even though your items may have overstayed their welcome in your home, it doesn’t mean they belong in the trash. That pot, lamp, shirt, pair of shoes, or book could be exactly what someone in another country needs. Arc makes sure your “trash” becomes something much more important, that doesn’t hurt our planet.