East Longmeadow PTOs host annual e-cycle fundraiser Sept. 10 - Reminder Publications

Sept. 1, 2022 | Debbie Garner
dgardner@thereminder.com
EAST LONGMEADOW – Got old electronics you want to dispose of? Appliances and yard equipment that you no longer need? TVs left over from your last upgrade? Important papers you need to shred?
The Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) of East Longmeadow’s five public schools hope you’ll dispose of these unwanted items with them during their annual fall e-cycle and shred event fundraiser.
On Sept 10 from 9 a.m. to noon, bring your unwanted electronics and appliances – and files – to East Longmeadow High School for proper disposal, for a fee, with all proceeds benefiting the PTOs of the five schools. Electronics recycling – e-cycling – will take place between 9 a.m. and noon; shredding will take place between 10 a.m. and noon. Representatives from all five East Longmeadow schools, as well as Longmeadow High School student volunteers, will be on hand to help unload items from vehicles. The event is rain or shine.
The cost to recycle small electronics such as VCRs and DVD players, appliances such as coffee makers, toasters, and hedge trimmers, and computer items such as laptops, tablets and printers, is $15. Appliances such as air conditioners and humidifiers/dehumidifiers, lawn mowers, computer monitors and TVs up to 19” are $25. All flat screen TVS, as well as other models 20”-27” in size, are $30 to dispose of. Large appliances such as dishwashers, exercise equipment and console/rear-projection and other TVs over 30” are $40. All shredding, which will be processed securely on site by ProShred, is $5 per bag or box. Preferred payment method is Venmo to Mapleshade-PTO; payment also accepted in cash or by checks payable to the Mapleshade PTO the day of the event.
The goal for the annual fundraiser is “between $1,500 and $2,000 … that’s what we usually hope for every year” event coordinator Katie Reilly told Reminder Publishing, with the funds split between the town’s five schools – Mapleshade, Meadow Brook and Mountain View elementary schools, Birchland Park Middle School and East Longmeadow High School – for extras not covered by each school’s budget. At the high school the monies typically help cover “teacher appreciation” events Reilly said, while at the elementary and middle schools the funds are put towards “enhancements of learning materials, field trips … it depends on what the [PTO] board decides and the principals ask for that year.”
This year, Reilly said the Board of Health obtained grant monies which the group is using to defray the cost of the shredding services for the event.
“They are paying $500 for the use of the truck,” which means the payments for all shredding done on Sept. 10 will be “pure profit” for the annual fundraiser, Reilly said. For larger items, especially those with freon, the fundraiser proceeds are the balance after the group pays recycler Gold Circuit e-cycling to dispose of the goods, she added. Regardless, Reilly said the PTOs try to keep the cost of recycling and shredding at this annual event affordable for the public.
She said 100 percent of all proceeds raised during the event goes to the schools.
“We have been holding this event for quite a while,” said Reilly, who indicated the fundraiser predates her involvement, and she has a child who is a senior at Longmeadow High. “But we thought it was a service that is necessary – everyone has bulk items they need to dispose of – and here is a great cause [to support].”
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