Women of Moose and IBEW present donation to VCRS

MAT-SU -- The Women of the Moose, in association with the local IBEW association, presented a check for $808.65 to the Valley Community for Recycling Solutions on Saturday. Jackie Endsley, chair of the Community Service Program for Women of the Moose, presented the check to Steve Brown, VCRS treasurer, amid the organized chaos of VCRS's weekly recycling drive.

The money for this charitable donation was primarily provided by a Polish feed on Dec. 5 coordinated by Endsley, who also sold homemade Polish sausages to raise money. The cost of the food for both of these ventures was footed by IBEW. "We made almost a 100 percent profit on the sausage and the feed thanks to IBEW," Endsley said.

This donation serves as the latest gesture from a community that has, on the whole, been very supportive of VCRS. Last March, the group received a trash baler from Waste Management to allow them to compact cardboard, plastic and metal more efficiently. Every Saturday food is donated by local kitchens and restaurants for the volunteers. And the group gives back to the cities of Palmer and Wasilla by returning much of the materials they receive directly to businesses and individuals. Reusable plastic bags, for example, are donated to the Salvation Army for bagging customer purchases.

The center also has more than 400 volunteers total, all of whom donate their time and energy on weekends to help move, sort and process materials donated by Valley residents.

"This place was founded in 1997 by a group of people who just wanted to see recycling happen in the Valley," said Mollie Boyer, executive director of VCRS. The VCRS has sponsored 21 events, held quarterly, since spring of 1998. The organization has been located in a facility near the intersection of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and 49th State Street since December 2002; however, a move to a new 24,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the nearby Central Landfill is in the works. "We're looking for plenty of space to deal with a long-term growth period," said Boyer of the planned move. The group is currently soliciting grants and donations for the construction of the new facility, which is hoped to begin in 2004. Land for the project has been donated by the Mat-Su Borough.

Boyer hopes that the new facility will be able to sustain itself through service contracts and the sale of recovered resources, reusable items and educational materials. "Our goal is to be self-sustained," she said, "to support ourselves with the products we deal in." Boyer also mentioned that the VCRS is a nonprofit institution, and currently derives most of its revenue by dealing with the for-profit Anchorage Recycling Center, so any movement toward self-sustainability would be most beneficial.

The recycling center is open for donations of newspaper, glass, paper products, aluminum, steel, and printer inkjet cartridges every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.