With a newly constructed school coming online for the fall semester, Bryn Athyn staff faced a dilemma: what to do with an entire school filled with good quality, usable furniture. There was nothing wrong with it; students and teachers would be using it right up to graduation day. Consistent with the New Church’s teachings of charity and stewardship, throwing it out as trash wasn’t an option. The question was, how to find folks who could use it, and how to get the furniture to them.
School principal Kiri Rogers did some online digging and found IRN – The Reuse Network. The Reuse Network’s mission is to keep good furniture out of U.S. landfills by matching it with nonprofit organizations for disaster and poverty relief. Exactly what Kiri was looking for.
Over two days in June, The Reuse Network lined up trucks and trailers to arrive at the Church School’s doorway, where a crew from longtime Reuse Network partner Meyer filled them with the excess furnishings. One overseas container of desks and chairs is on its way to schools in Honduras. Another container is bound for schools in The Gambia, West Africa. A tractor trailer went to Project C.U.R.E.; combined with other supplies, these furnishings will support relief programs in some of the many countries where Project C.U.R.E. works. A final trailer stayed right in Philadelphia, provided to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
All together, the Church School provided some 225 desks, 600 chairs, 159 classroom and other tables, 60 bookshelves, 20+ storage cabinets, and dozens of other items to nonprofits. Most of the items unsuitable for reuse were recycled for scrap metal content.
The Church School’s building program isn’t just about upgrading the campus; it’s about building communities and improving lives. Consistent with The New Church’s core beliefs, it’s a mission of charity and service.
