Sylvania Area Chamber of Commerce member Rich Bitter of RH Bitter & Associates , Sheila Dunn, President and CEO of Easter Seals Northern Ohio, along with Kevin Haddad, Sylvania Township Trustee second from right and Mike Lieber, Sylvania Town Crier, right, joined Bryan Waugh, Easter Seals Donation Center Operations Manager, Muddy the Mud Hen and Rocky the Rocket to cut the ribbon to officially open the new Donation Center.
“This is a wonderful place and an ideal location for our drivers,” said Donation Center Operations Manager Bryan Waugh of the Easter Seals Donation Center at 5929 W. Sylvania Ave. “We have great visibility from traffic on Sylvania and Holland-Sylvania avenues with convenient access for those wishing to drop off donations,” he pointed out. “We have also been able to expand our office space to accommodate our five-member staff,” he added.
The collection center personnel leased the 3,400-square-foot facility with help from building owner Bob Wagner of Key Realty, moving from the Monroe Street location where the agency had been for the past two years.
Six years ago, Easter Seals entered into a partnership with Savers, the second-hand clothing store. “We began collecting clothing, shoes and accessories, household goods, small appliances and electronics, toys, games and tools, all in good condition, which we transport to Savers to be re-sold,” Mr. Waugh pointed out. “Savers personnel sends us a check each month for the goods we deliver.”
Gently used donations in good condition may be brought to the new centralized collection center or one of the 12 Easter Seals’ donation trucks will pick up from the homes of individuals or the donation bins placed throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Those items are then delivered to the two Savers locations: Reynolds Road at Heatherdowns Boulevard or Secor Road just north of Central Avenue.
Savers, a retail second-hand store was founded in 1954 on the principle of giving back and providing opportunities in the community by partnering with local charities such as Easter Seals.
Locally, Easter Seals is paid based on the number of boxes and bags of merchandise they deliver to us. Easter Seals is also paid for donations customers deliver directly to Savers via the Community Donation Centers.
Easter Seals, founded in 1919 in Elyria, Ohio, is the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit organization serving children and adults with disabilities or other special needs. Services have been developed to maximize the independence of people with a wide array of disabilities including individuals born with birth defects or those who have been disabled through illness, accident or aging. Speech-language therapy services for children birth through school-age, medical equipment loans and home care services, adaptive aquatics, senior friends, child passenger safety program and summer camps, are some of the services and programs offered through Easter Seals.
