Successful Exchanges...Briefs

by Maggie Coulter

Choir Robes
Ms. Paula Stoner, with the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos, wrote "It worked! Shortly after listing our now unneeded choir robes on CalMAX, I received a call from a music teacher. She wanted our old robes! Thanks so much—we never expected to succeed so quickly!" 

The congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos had purchased new robes for their choir. They were faced with the problem of getting rid of the old ones which were no longer needed, but were in perfect condition. Ms. Paula Stoner states, "I was unwilling to consign them to a dumpster, and so I contacted the local Center for Development of Recycling at San Jose State and the CalMAX Program. I managed the County's contract with CDR before my retirement, among other things. Therefore, I was familiar with both of them. CalMAX was the catalyst for finding the school group that could use the old robes."

The fifty-five choir robes were exchanged from the church in Los Gatos to a middle school in the Bay Area. A music teacher who was in need of robes for her choir students had success finding Ms. Stoner. A search on the Internet resulted in a link to the CalMAX database and in the great find for the middle school students.

Berkeley Cragmont Elementary School Receives material from San Quentin Prison
Sometimes, the most unusual connections are made through CalMAX. Ms. Ellen Georgi, a history teacher at Cragmont Elementary School in Berkeley, submitted an advertisement in CalMAX for gardening material. The teachers were working on putting together a school garden so the children would learn about the benefits of gardening and the environment.

Ms. Georgi has received many calls and inquiries as a result of her ad, most from folks in her community who wanted to donate bricks and landscaping material. To her surprise, a call came one day from San Quentin State Prison, Recycle Department. A man left a voice mail offering to donate construction material from the prison. The elementary school was happy to receive wood and landscaping material from the prison recycle department.

Although the garden is not finished yet, Ellen hopes CalMAX will inspire others in the community to offer landscaping material. The garden should be blooming by next spring, thanks to the community involvement of many CalMAX users throughout the Bay Area.

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Last updated: August 01, 2008