The Resource Depot

Resource Depot is a Palm Beach County nonprofit organization, founded in 1999, whose mission is to benefit local educators and their students through the practice of creative reuse. Resource Depot collects donated materials – anything clean, safe and reusable with a classroom in mind – and makes these resources available to local teachers, students, nonprofits, and families for their arts and educational programs.Any Palm Beach County educator, including public and private school teachers, homeschool parents, daycare and aftercare providers, and educational nonprofit organizations such as Scouts, can become a member for a nominal annual fee, and all the materials are free. In addition, Resource Depot brings “art with an environmental twist” to the public through school field trips, DIY workshops on creative reuse, and provide hands-on arts activities for all ages at local community events.We do this by collecting donations of safe, clean reusable materials such as industry by-products, foam, plastics and other materials, and giving them a second or even third life by placing them in the hands of those who can best use them to develop innovative, conscientious and resourceful learners—instructors, teaching artists, community educators...The reuse center model was created 32 years ago in Boston by a forward thinking educator, Dr. Walter Drew. He is a strong supporter and mentor today for Resource Depot. Resource Depot was created in 1999 through a unique collaboration with Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County along with other local service agencies, including United Way and the School District. Resource Depot has since become a 501 © 3 agency providing free safe reusable donated materials to the community for educational, artistic, and therapeutic projects while at the same time prolonging the life of the landfill. A mission which started with one staff and one van for collection has grown to include five staff with a fourteen foot box truck for collections.Our goal is to educate the public on methods of reusing materials for educational and artistic measures while giving the materials to them free of charge. Materials, workshops, and field trips served over 500,000 customers (parents, children, educators and a variety of nonprofits) while deferring over 160,000 pounds of reusable materials from the landfill.Over the past year Resource Depot has participated in local community and special events, including ArtiGras, Bright Nights, Sunfest, and the South Florida Fair, by providing free hands on art projects for children and families. The Depot also supplies other nonprofits with free materials and artistic ideas for use at their booths at events. The Education Coordinator facilitated educational artistic field trips for over 1200 students, educators, and families. Field trips are offered onsite and taken offsite as well.The Depot was nominated for the 2006-2007 Muse Awards and has a multitude of thank you certificates from other nonprofit agencies as well as being Business Partners with a variety of Palm Beach County schools. Over five hundred volunteers donated thousands of hours to Resource Depot to help at field trips, special events and shopping days.Resource Depot is a center for creative reuse which collects business discards, samples, and scraps that would ordinarily end up in the landfill. These materials, such as foam, plastic, wood, and fabric, are donated free back to educators, parents, children, seniors and other nonprofit agencies. What's in it for teachers, artists, parents, and child care providers?This unique business/education partnership helps to solve a serious problem in our schools and other child care programs. A severe lack of quality affordable materials means teachers spend, according to our surveys, between $ 750.00-$ 1000.00 annually out of their own pockets!! There is a consistent urgent call from educators nationally for a supply of hands-on materials. However, due to low budgets, the needed resources often cannot be provided unless they are donated.What's in it for children?Research and common sense tell us that children learn best through 'hands on' experiences. Self esteem and social competence are advanced through concrete cooperative learning. Children are our most valuable resource and will be the creative problem solvers of tomorrow. Reusing clean, donated materials gives children an opportunity they might not otherwise have. It also teaches respect for the environment.