The Reuse Network rang out 2024 in Las Cruces, NM, where in two days, over the weekend before New Year’s, project manager Coulson Oswald directed the loading and shipment of six trailers with more than 2,100 items from Desert Hills Elementary School. 525 student desks, 245 work/activity tables, 1,125 chairs, plus bookcases, storage cabinets, whiteboards, and other items are being distributed among disadvantaged communities in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The Desert Hills ES project followed two earlier 2024 Reuse Network assignments for the Las Cruces Public Schools. In June we completed back-to-back projects at Sunrise Elementary School and Organ Mountain High School. Across all three projects, in 2024 the Las Cruces Public Schools provided some 6,900 items – more than 1,700 desks, 3,100 chairs, 750 activity tables, and nearly 1,000 other pieces – for reuse by disadvantaged students.
We salute our longtime partner Meteor Education and Learning Environment Specialist Matt Mikolay for encouraging the Las Cruces Public Schools to prioritize reuse, and the Las Cruces Public Schools for their enthusiastic and lasting support of reuse. Special thanks to Meteor’s Project Manager Barry Cooper, who marshalled the local resources to get the job done, and our own Jim Buchholz for giving up a vacation weekend to keep the trucks on schedule and rolling.
