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Recycling

                           ALUMINUM COLLECTION DATES

  October   19, 2008 - Bus Circle  (3:00PM - 6:00PM)  472 pounds collected.
  December  14, 2008 - Bus Circle (12:00PM - 3:30PM) 
  March     22, 2009 - Bus Circle  (3:00PM - 6:00PM)
  May       30, 2009 - Bus Circle  (3:00PM - 6:00PM) 
  September 13, 2009 - Bus Circle  (3:00PM - 6:00PM)

Please bring aluminum pop and beer cans.  Please do not bring glass or 
plastic bottles or tin soup, vegetable, or fruit cans.  Thanks!!


This year, with the approval of Mr. Metz and Father Tom Walker, I am planning 
what will easily be the largest effort I’ve ever made in the area of 
fundraising.  I plan to mobilize athletic families, school families, church 
families, staff people, and community members to collect enough aluminum cans 
that we derive the revenue needed to replace the fifty-two oldest computers 
in our school, namely, the machines installed in our first, second, and third 
grade classrooms, as well as one fourth grade and one fifth grade room.

Let me explain: the school opened in September of 2000 with approximately 
seventy computers deployed in school and office locations.  During the nine 
years since these machines were purchased, we’ve added approximately twenty-
five computers per year to reach the present size of 232 computers deployed 
on our campus.  In those eight years we’ve lost about twenty machines to 
various component failures, kept a small stockpile of parts to service 
failing units, and continued to use the operating machines in eleven of our 
first floor classrooms.  At this point, the remaining computers are nearly 
twice as old as the first graders who are using them, and a definitive plan 
to replace them must be initiated.

The new machines I’m considering to replace our present units will cost 
approximately $400.00 per unit.  Thus, the total cost for fifty-two new 
machines will approach $21,000.00.  After a discussion with Mr. Metz about 
this idea, he has agreed that this year’s volleyball and basketball playoff 
revenue (our annual athletic department fundraisers) can be directed this 
year towards a large-scale technology upgrade for the school.  The result of 
that decision is that I will be able to raise approximately the first quarter 
of the money we need through efforts we’re all accustomed to in the athletic 
department.  Further, you can be assured that I will solicit financial 
support from the Men’s Club, the Home and School Association, and any other 
groups interested in seeing our school get the computer replacements it needs.

The cash value of a single aluminum can is about three cents.  Thus, raising 
$16,000.00 will require the collection of about 700,000 aluminum cans.  While 
that sounds like a lot of cans, my experience last year suggests that it’s a 
very reachable goal.  I collected aluminum cans from the staff room, from 
playoff events, and at home and accumulated about 3100 cans.  Considering the 
number of families in our school, the parish, and the community, and 
considering the energy of some members in our church, we could reach our goal 
or even surpass it.  

At this point, I’m planning to have four collection days over the course of 
the school year when I will meet aluminum collectors in the school parking 
lot to accept their crushed cans, load them into a massive trailer, and 
transport them to our recycling partner in St. Paul.  Since St. Ambrose lacks 
the space to store a large number of cans, it will be essential to convert 
our aluminum into cash as quickly as possible and deposit the revenue with 
our Business Administrator, Ron Neuser, for safekeeping.  When a large enough 
amount of money has been raised, probably in early March, Mr. Metz and I will 
select a machine type and order as many replacement machines as we can afford.

Obviously, this is a huge undertaking.  This project’s success depends 
completely on the willingness of the Saint Ambrose population to “buy in” and 
do the work this lofty goal requires.  Considering that faith-filled Catholic 
citizens of Woodbury are responsible for building St. Ambrose in the first 
place, there’s every reason to believe the community will embrace and support 
this effort.  I will need help from a lot of people in order to succeed.  
I’ve been thinking about this project for several months, and in that time 
I’ve come up with a list of ways everyone at St. Ambrose could contribute:

1.  In order to accomplish this project, I will need access to a fairly large 
cargo trailer.  I do not own one, and I don’t want to rent one.  If you have 
a large cargo trailer and would be comfortable loaning it to me on a number 
of occasions or joining me in the parking lot for a few Sunday evenings, 
please contact me.

2.  The Saint Ambrose community has always been blessed with numerous 
families and individuals with considerable volunteer energy.  If you are such 
a person, you could easily conduct your own aluminum collection efforts and 
pass the cans along to me during on established collection date.

3.  Every member of Saint Ambrose could solicit the cooperation of their 
neighbors next door and across the street.  Doing so could potentially 
quadruple each family’s ability to secure aluminum cans.


4.  Scout groups could take on this work as a service project.

5.  Energetic volunteers might solicit access to aluminum cans from local 
restaurants, bars, VFWs, and other businesses.

6.  Independent and energetic collectors might also collect their own 
aluminum, cash it in themselves, and send the money to school in an envelope 
marked “aluminum fund”.

7.  Adults might consider establishing an aluminum collection site at their 
places of work and carrying home aluminum weekly.

8.  Aluminum from households and neighborhoods that had been routed simply to 
municipal recycling programs can instead be diverted to our school to pay for 
the technology upgrades we need.

9.  Nothing is easier than money.  Folks who see the need to replace our 
aging computers but who aren’t able to collect aluminum themselves might see 
the sense making a direct financial contribution to the effort.  Sending a 
check to school in an envelope marked “aluminum fund” would be a much 
appreciated gesture of support.

10.  Finally, if somebody feels strongly about working on this project, I 
could use a partner in organizing these efforts and communicating with the 
greater community.

Thanks for finding a way to help in this undertaking.

Respectfully,

Tim Demco
Saint Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic School
Technologist/Athletic Director
Phone: 651 768-3053
Email: Tim.Demco@SaintAmbroseofWoodbury.org

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