by Ulrik Narcisse for Go Green BK.
Orginally published on January 9th, 2019 & updated on December 11th, 2019
For Town Square BK’s Greencycle Swap, the upcycling process doesn’t end when the last sweater is swapped!
In spite of a bitterly cold winter morning, hundreds of Greenpointers and other Brooklynites beat back the chill to attend the Town Square‘s Greencycle Holiday Swap last year, hosted at Leonard Library in Williamsburg/Greenpoint on December 8, 2018.
The event, now in its eleventh year, drew a steady stream of visitors throughout the early afternoon, even when nearing closure. Guests looking to pass through and pick up new treasures from the swap came out in large numbers, as did donors. For visitors, the reasons to donate were as varied as the items piling up in the “home goods” and “electronics” sections!
The swap is a win-win situation: reduced waste and reclaimed treasures for all! The event had hundreds of pounds of drop-offs and likewise, hundreds of discoveries.
Some donations of the day also helped to brighten the lives of others further away, and in need. Queens resident Niya Hicks is a facilitator of an after-school and community center in Uptown Manhattan. Taking the time out of her day off to visit, she discovered a new avenue for upcycling.
“Greencycle Swap helps us especially because we have no money within some programs to make purchases for supplies,” said Niya. Continuing, she said that as the year goes on, some educational children’s resources go missing or become damaged, making replacements hard to come by. For her altruistic purpose, she managed to find new board games for the children, as well as a few books and shareable activities.
“We have resources, but in the case of expanding those resources to implement new ideas, we just don’t have the funding,” she continued. “Attending this event gave me the opportunity to find some really great things that the kids will be able to use in the future to help maintain more diversity and creativity outside of their curriculum.”
While the crowds browsed, fresh waves of young eco-activists had their hands busy to bring the event from a smooth start to an organized end. Over ten students from Stuyvesant High School and Beacon High School along with Boy Scouts from Pack 7 and Troop 26 volunteered for the event: setting up, checking in guests, collecting and distributing donations, and packing up the rest to send with Denise Edwards.
Denise Edwards is the Site Director for Clay Family Residence and Home Life Services. Currently Edwards helps manage Home Life Services, which runs five shelters in Brooklyn and Bronx, including one on Clay Street in Greenpoint. Due to the open-ended nature of donations, Edwards has been able to not only provide necessities like shirts and shoes but also, less recognized needs, particularly for children.
After the swap, donated toys head to the Albemarle Family Residence in East Flatbush, which has families with children, along with donated books which help to maintain an enriching environment for all. Currently, this shelter houses over 180 children, ranging from ages five through 18.
Of course, the true necessity arrives for individuals who walk through the doors of the shelter from the moment they sit down. Edwards was able to recall at least one barefoot individual for whom she was able to provide a pair of shoes at the moment of arrival, due to the wide variety of donations that have come through Town Square’s Greencycle Swaps.
“Some others arrive off a bus with nothing but a ticket and the clothes on their back,” said Edwards. “Some of them even come from as far as California,” she added, also mentioning that the individuals usually came unequipped with warm jackets or clothes to handle the winter weather. Thanks to a little help from this Greencycle Holiday Swap, that wouldn’t be the case for some folks this year.
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This year, Town Square’s Greencycle Holiday Swap is coming up on Saturday, December 14th, 2019. Give back with an early spring cleaning, and bring your unwanted goods in working condition to us!
Also, if you have an event that you’d like to share with the community or would like to attend one for yourself, please visit our events page. From there, you’ll be able to personally submit and advocate for your favorite local events, and invite the rest of the community to join!