Art of Recycle

At Art of Recycle our goal is to provide HOPE to people within the communities that we serve.

Hospitality

• Teaching people to treat each other with dignity and respect. We have a no-bullying policy in place and we treat people the way we expect people to treat others. Our goal is to create low stress environments where individuals with disadvantages can prosper through safe employment.

Opportunity

• We have a job training program developed for youths that teaches life skills, job skills and critical thinking skills. We encourage volunteerism and offer paid employment to youth, adults and seniors who need a compassionate environment to work within due to their disadvantages. We work directly with schools and other non-profits that assist individuals with disadvantages and we help to provide a safe environment that allows these individuals to learn and grow through community interactions.

Prosperity

• The work that our employees and volunteers perform at Art of Recycle help other non-profits, community and educational centers to thrive and open new programs.
• Our work within our community enables us to help other communities to develop similar revitalization projects in order to create widespread community prosperity.

Empowerment

• Our goal is to empower people through education and free and low-cost resources. The success of our organization and its ability to remain self-sustaining can fuel entire communities with the concept that they can achieve magnificent things when they apply the effort to do so. We aim to provide guidance and structured plans on how to recreate similar successful programs.

Our strategies are simple.

We provide low cost and free services that make are services attainable for low income individuals and families.
We set goals and standards that we follow rigorously.
We provide an atmosphere that is safe, enjoyable, entertaining, inspiring and educational.
We chart our growth and constantly evaluate our impact.
We utilize donated software, Microsoft Teams, to keep strong communication within our teams.
We are highly invested in networking with other non-profits and charities who have goals similar to our own.
We keep our programs innovative and up to date as well as self sustaining.

We have a five year plan that we have implemented that helps us to keep on task and guide us in a direction of growth. By focusing on a strong foundation we guarantee the longevity and success of our organization. We are self funded through our thrifty craft stores and art workshop registrations. We have a linear business structure that allows for functioning teamwork.

Our outreach efforts have created a solid foundation for our organization. Our biggest focus in our first years has been to create a stable form of funding and a respected name within our community, and we have already accomplished both. The support our organization receives from the community has been outstanding.

With our financial support being stable and trackable through our thrifty craft store sales and our art workshop registrations, our next step was to create the programs that people in our community have shown need for. The biggest need was job training for students with disadvantages. Art of Recycle created positions for students and job training for students that lacked basic math, reading and writing skills. Within five years, Art of Recycle increased our staff from 4 employees to over twenty. Twelve employees out of twenty have disadvantages. We are currently creating more jobs for students as we continue to train them in math, reading and writing, social skills, life skills and critical thinking skills.

Our third step is to develop our team. Teaching people how to work together to help make their community grow. As Art of Recycle grows, so does our staff. Both volunteer and hired staff make up our work force. Our overall goal is to provide people with an income that sustains them in all aspects of their life, emotionally and physically, as well as financially.

Art of Recycle has established a firm clientele base, both in the Ephrata area and surrounding counties. We have successfully networked with local organizations and local community members who were in need of the services that we provide, many of whom are now regularly utilizing our services.

At the end of 2021, Art of Recycle is currently residing in an 18000sf wonderland in downtown Ephrata, PA. We have successfully raised the funds to support our growth. We went from a 2500sf space where our organization thrived for five years to an 18000 sf space where we resided for 6 years. We have surpassed our goal of maintaining our facility and we have now become self-sustaining, creating the funds to employ a modest full-time staff. On track to eventually employing dozens of disadvantaged residents from Ephrata and surrounding areas.

Art of Recycle has created a successful job training and life skills training program. We work with disadvantaged youth, adults and seniors that are in need of assistance with math, measuring, reading, writing and communication skills. To date we have hired 12 individuals with intellectual disadvantages. We are on track to hiring more over the course of 2022.

Art of Recycle, through the wonderful outpouring of in-kind support of our community was, in 2018, able to give away about $150,000 of classroom and art supplies to teachers in need in over a 5 states area. In 2021 we distributed over $500,000 in teaching supplies to thousands of teachers and non-profits within a five state area.

Art of Recycle is invested in the social equity of its community. We sponsored and facilitated the opening of a second location in a 5000SF facility in downtown Hanover PA called Hanover's Little Art Bank, a second branch of AoR. We also employ seniors and disadvantaged adults and youth at the Hanover location.

Art of Recycle employed its staff throughout the shutdown of 2020. We did not lay off or let go any employees during the period of March to the end of 2021. We took heavy precautions when it came to the health and safety of our staff.