February 12, 2010

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Fairwood Ace Hardware Staffer Shares Christmas Light Recycling Drive Results

Ace Hardware's Chris Hickey with the truckload of lights ready to be recycled.

Now somewhat of a distant memory for many of us, Chris Hickey, salesperson at Fairwood's Ace Hardware, developed a service project that offered a connection with his company's products and could involve the Fairwood community to make it all happen. It was his contribution to the spirit of giving at Christmas, and it was a job well done.

The final result was a project that both recycles waste and helps local neighbors in need. Hickey wanted to thank Fairwood neighbors for making this first event a success.

The concept was to collect and recycle old Christmas lights. The metal contained in the lights is extracted and recycled, so companies pay for this product. Rather than disposing inoperable lights, Hickey thought it would be environmentally

more friendly to collect those lights, recycle where appropriate, and then donate the monies collected to the local Maple Valley Food Bank, a double win.

"Our (Ace Hardware) goal was to reach $250 from these lights to give back to our community, and my personal goal was $350," said Hickey.

So the service project began, and donation containers were placed in the store. Additionally, Girl Scout Troops 41113 and 42887 joined the effort, and together, over $750 worth of materials were collected to donate to the food bank. Hickey is extremely pleased with the results, and according to Ace Hardware, they are pleased, too. The plan is to "continue this program next year as well, and hopefully our turnout will create a snowball effect to provide more help in our community!" said Hickey.

Hickey knows that this is a community effort and wanted to be sure that everyone knows that he's appreciative of their work.

"I wanted to thank my community for their help clearing landfills from this material and creating a helping hand to our neighbors," said Hickey.

The community is also appreciative of Hickey's willingness to do just a little extra work to let us all care for those in need.