Next weekend's Sharefest gives back to the community and environment
On September 9th in New Lenox, local volunteers from the Will County area will gather to collect donations of all kinds to help those in need. This yearly event is held at the Spencer Trail Elementary school parking lot and gathers thousands of items. The different kinds of donations accepted range from furniture, clothes, books, and food pantry items. These items get collected and sorted to be eventually redistributed to the general public at a later date. The volunteers for Sharefest simply open up large moving trucks of items and anyone is then welcome to take what they may need or cannot afford otherwise.
Not only does this organization collect items for households, but they accept recyclable donations such as wood, foam plastics, scrap metal, and even hazardous waste. Flyers have been circulating all surrounding towns of New Lenox with a complete list of what can and cannot be donated. Sharefest emphasizes the donation of hazardous waste, however, because not many people know how to dispose of these items properly. Some examples of hazardous waste included used oil, old gasoline, unwanted or expired medication, lawn chemicals and fertilizers, paint, and pool chemicals.These items cannot be simply thrown into the trash to eventually find it's way to the dump. It can be very harmful to the soil it is near and if it is liquid, it can seep into the water systems, causing contaminated water. Paint is an example of a liquid that should not end up in our waterways. Sharefest keeps a collection of all used paint they acquire and as volunteers come, they spend their time mixing old cans of paint with saw dust, donated by a Tri-Star Cabinets, local furniture shop. This solidifies the paint and keep it from contaminating the surrounding soil and water.
Having volunteered with Sharefest in the past, it is incredible to see all of the hard work that goes into this event. Without the help of all of the volunteers, this event could not help all those in Will County who may need it. Sharefest helps the environment also in giving people the chance to properly dispose of many things in their house not made for the dump. From 8 am to 3 pm, come drop off hazardous waste you may have in your home and donate what you can to those in your area who may need it. For more information on this great event, visit Sharefest's website.
