— from Pete Moe —
Gravel footprint of the new Exchange building looking northwest.
Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange had a “terrific” year, according to Executive Director Pete Moe, and raised a significant amount of money towards building a new Exchange reuse facility. “However, we still have a ways to go.”
ORS has raised just over $200,000 dollars for the new Exchange, but really needs double that to pull the trigger and order our new building, according to Moe.
“We are totally blown away by the generosity of the community so far,” he says. “We’ve had more than 200 individual donations in the past three months. But to start the project in a responsible way, we will need more cash on hand.”
ORS intends to pursue those funds in several ways is 2016. They intend to continue hosting various fundraising campaigns and events; pursue grant opportunities, and is even considering federal and other loan programs.
“We are also really hoping to get support from local family foundations that understand the value of The Exchange and might make some significant contributions.”
ORS is hoping that their many supporters will help them to identify some of these potential sources by contacting them directly.
ORS Board President Tim Blanchard says that the focus and tone of the fundraising efforts will shift in 2016:
“You are going to hear a lot more personal stories of those who have been helped in significant ways by the Exchange,” he says. “We want to make it really clear that the Exchange not only keeps useable items out of the waste stream, these items are often life-saving essentials for people in times of trouble.”
Besides fundraising, ORS intends to keep up several other projects moving forward including the annual spring “Great Islands Cleanup” scheduled for April 23rd; recycling education in the Orcas School District, and the annual “Junk Art” show, scheduled for early summer.
While ORS is focused on the Exchange project, they are also running a successful garbage transfer operation. Blanchard says he is pleased with how the ORS team has managed the Orcas Transfer Station safely and effectively since September of 2013.
In 2015, he says, ORS handled over 4,700 tons of garbage, 740 tons of co-mingled recycling, and kept over $610,000 in the local economy.
“We are very excited about new developments in the management of glass, food waste, paint, and household hazardous waste,” says Moe. “In 2016 we will be working on some exciting programs in these areas both locally and at the state-level.”
ORS also completed a major site redesign at the Orcas Transfer Station in 2015. Improvements to the roads and storm water system, mandated by San Juan County, were completed in December. These improvements will be on display in Late February, when ORS/The Exchange will host a public reception and site tour at the transfer station to commemorate the anniversary of the fire that destroyed the old Exchange, and detail the exciting plans for the future.
For more on this and other events, to learn more about our waste stream, to donate, to volunteer–visit their website, at www.exchangeorcas.org.
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I like the idea of stories about how The Exchange has helped out so very many of us when we needed it. Here’s a suggestion that might make an impact: Compile a very long list of these incidents by asking people to sign their names, along with the items they obtained from The Exchange, that made a big difference to them. Perhaps such survey forms could be circulated as petitions are: by individual volunteers, by leaving forms at check-out counters in businesses, at the Sr. Center, etc. Here is a starter: Jean and Steve Henigson, a bed frame and matress, eating utensils, pyrex bowls. Also, I would be glad to carry a form around with me to get more entries.