Troy Community Works!

LOCAL NON-PROFITS PARTNER FOR NATIONAL MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY

TROY, OH (October 6, 2011) Troy Community Works! and fourteen  different non-profit organizations around Troy have joined together to participate in the largest national day of helping others, Make A Difference Day.

Make A Difference Day is the most encompassing community service project in the nation – a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors.  Created by USA Weekend Magazine, the 20^th annual Make A Difference Day will occur on October 22, 2011 from 8:30am – 12:00pm with a volunteer recognition lunch immediately following.  On this day, across the nation, corporations, government leaders, charitable organizations, and everyday Americans will join together to make a positive impact in their communities.  The headquarters of Troy’s event will be at the First Place Christian Center located at 16 W. Franklin Street.

Volunteers will be assigned to a project at one of 14 different sites including Troy Community Works!, Partners in Hope, Bruckner Nature Center, the Troy-Miami County Library, WACO Historical Society, St. Joseph’s House, St. Patrick’s Soup Kitchen, Family Connections, Troy Main Street, Lincoln Community Center, the Miami Valley Veterans Museum, Hospice of Miami County, the Miami County Animal Shelter, and the Miami County Recovery Council.   These organizations have teamed up to host Make A Difference Day- Troy Fix It along with many other partner groups and businesses. Our Make A Difference Day project is a “Fix-It” Day centered on providing assistance with small repairs or landscaping projects for these area non-profit organizations that give so much to our community. All projects are listed on our website, www.troycommunity.com, under the “Fix it & MDD” tab. Individuals can view projects and download a volunteer form there. For individuals who are unable to volunteer on October 22, there will be a food drive held in conjunction with the Fix It day projects.  Canned food items can be dropped off at First Place to benefit the First Place Food Pantry and the St. Patrick’s Soup Kitchen.

We encourage all Trojans to come out and volunteer on October 22^rd.  Volunteers can receive a free volunteer breakfast at Panera Breads from 7am-9am and volunteer from 8:30am -12:00pm.  A volunteer lunch prepared by the Troy Altrusa Club will then be served at First Place.  Funding for this Make A Difference Day is provided by generous grants from the Troy Foundation and the Honda Foundation.  For more information on Troy’s Make A Difference Day event and how to participate as a group or individually, please contact Allison DeHart at contact@troycommunity.com.  All information on Make A Difference Day-Troy will be posted on the website: www.troycommunity.com.  Come join the fun and make a difference!

TROY, OH (May 31, 2011) Troy Community Works! (TCW) is pleased to announce they have received a $20,000 grant from the Ohio Community Development Finance Fund to go towards the pre-development work of the 221 E. Main Street Building and welcome our summer intern Katie Dahlinghaus.  The Ohio Community Development Finance Fund was founded in 1987 as a financial intermediary dedicated to creating possibility and providing opportunity for a better quality of life.  The Finance Fund provides resources to support organizations like Troy Community Works! that assist low- and moderate-income families and communities.  The mission of the Finance Fund is to build bridges between resources and the low-income community to improve the quality of life for people.  The grant TCW received from the finance fund is specifically geared to assist organizations with their pre-development needs such as architectural drawings, permitting, and marketing the building.  Jon Moorehead, program officer for the Finance Fund is looking forward to this partnership with TCW. “As a financial intermediary in the community development arena, the Finance Fund’s resources are best placed in projects that enhance existing revitalization. The redevelopment of 221 East Main Street perfectly fits with our mission.”

Today I am participating in one of those summer rites of passage-the community yard sale.  I’ll be partnering with a friend to sell out outgrown/underused items at the Kensington Yard Sales in Troy.  I love yard sale-ing and looking for the all elusive deal.  I love shopping at my local goodwill and I’ll never say no to a used bookstore.  Equally,  I love knowing I can sell, donate, or give the things I no longer need to another person or organization.

TCW has the word “sustainability” in our mission statement and part of sustainability is smart reuse of things we no longer want or need.  When I used to work in recycling I would get frustrated at how much focus everyone seemed to put on recycling things and yet spend so little time on how we can reuse things.  Reuse, by definition, means an item gets a second life.  This was clearly evidenced by my daughter crying over her outgrown princess scooter that is headed for the yard sale.  The thing that stopped her crying was the idea that another little girl will get joy from having her very own pink princess scooter.

Yard sales aren’t the only hot spots for reuse.  Everywhere you look there are deposits for reusing your things.  Goodwill, Salvation Army, and consignment shops are great for clothing and housewares.  The Lions’ Club has a wonderful program for old eyeglasses.  One of the coolest programs I’ve seen for reuse is sponsored by Nike.  Their “Nike ReUse a Shoe” program takes shoes of any brand and Nike will reuse them into tracks & playgrounds for kids in underserved areas.  Here are some other great reuse organizations that will give you a warm fuzzy for donating to a good cause.

1. Habitat for Humanity ReStore (locally Uncle Ralph’s ReStore)- takes furniture and any sort of deconstruction items.
2. Donate my Dress – formal wear for proms/bridesmaids dresses.  There is also a formal wear consignment shop in Troy that will take formal wear.
3. Books for Africa – donates books to schools, orphanages, and literacy programs in africa.  Our local goodwill and Around About Books will also take books.
4. One Warm Coat – winter coat drives.
5. Cell phones can be dropped off at our local Partners In Hope or Family Connection offices to help those who don’t have a phone.
6. Electronic & technical gadgets can be dropped off and recycled at Best Buy or check out www.digitaltips.org for information on your specific gadget.

One of the best parts of reuse, especially when it is done locally, is how it does truly build community.  By recirculating resources (aka our stuff) we may be helping someone see, remodel their home more efficiently or keeping great stuff out of the landfill.  So as you say “good riddance” to the stuff you don’t need you can also say “hello” to sustainability.