My Nonprofit Reviews

Art of Recycle has had many changes this past year. We consolidated our operations back to a single location which gave us much needed improvements to shelving and organizational options throughout the community center and teacher resource room. We forged many new connections and partnerships with other local community driven nonprofits. Several of our teens who were participants in our youth leadership job training program left us as they moved forward in their educational journeys; we are celebrating their coming adventures. This left us with spaces in the program which we are excited to fill with new youth ready to start their adventures in the working world. As our mission defines, we provide an environment for diverse learners, and we understand that everyone who wants to learn and contribute to their community should have a supporting environment to grow their skills.

Earlier this week I was really needing to be working on paperwork. Instead I spent the morning working with some of my favorite friends who were volunteering through a partner organization's job training program. There were three volunteers who came with one staff trainer. The task I had for them had multiple phases in two places in the building. We encourage skill building out of enjoyment of the work, by ensuring that the individual has a task that helps them to learn and grow and the volunteers chose to work in both areas. The staff member from their organization who had brought them was concerned that she could not keep an eye on all three and so I stuck around and worked with one of them while she organized the drawers of rubber stamps. The paperwork and maintenance tasks I had scheduled for myself waited while I remembered and enjoyed the work that our organization is about. We help all members of our community to learn and thrive no mater what challenges life has thrown their way. We may not be able to fix their lives but we can help them develop the tools to make their world a better place. And I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out watching the volunteer tackle a challenge with a smile and a great wit.

Healing and Growing Community through art and excess is our mission, but what is "Healing and Growing Community"? We see it as people making friendships. Everything we do is towards the goal of forging bonds within our wonderful diverse community in which everyone is welcome and has a place.

Our free teachers resource area has expanded this year and has grown to include all nonprofits, not just teachers. We are blessed to have the support of the community to enable us to continue all our programs.

When we started Art of Recycle we thought our mission was to teach people to create art with recycled materials. We soon learned that was just how we did what we did. We changed our mission to accurately reflect our mission of "Healing and Growing Community, utilizing recycled art materials." Six years after incorporation and ten years after the seeds of starting we are still going strong and serving as a hub for people to meet and get to know one another.

Art of Recycle is such a magical wonderland! We wanted to create a place that art could thrive, and does it ever! It makes my heart dance with joy to see the craft castle full of kids (and moms, dads, grandparents, etc.) all crafting away. I feel like I am at the beginning of a great adventure and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

I love being able to be a part (the narrator puppet) of the finger puppet theater. I get to see the creativity and silliness of kids creating stories and being able to help guide them in positive storylines where trouble is more often because of misunderstandings rather than evil intentions.

I am glad to see that the local community loves and needs and enjoys the center as much as I do. I get up every day excited to go volunteer, there isn't a happier place for me to be. I could go on and on but if you really want to experience and understand it you just have to get to Ephrata and come see it. It will change you too!

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