Community Aid Receives 2021 Margo Atwood Award
Local resale enterprise, Community Aid, has been a partner with Bell since 2014 when they first placed a couple of their donation collection bins on Bell properties. The arrangement made Bell eligible to receive four cents per pound for clothing collected in the bins, and allowed us, as a community partner, to apply for grants from the organization. In the first few years, Bell received funds that covered the cost of bus passes for people in our service programs to use, Bell Family Shelter operations, mattress pads and covers distributed in each of our three service areas, and vouchers for Bell services users to use to shop in Community Aid stores.
Since then, a store came to York – making it more convenient for people with vouchers to shop – and the bins were removed, as local supporters could now drop off donations of clothing (and now also shoes) directly to the store, which is located in the Queensgate shopping center. Bell now receives six cents per pound for donations when items are brought to the drive-up door and presented with our partner number: 20015.
This past year, Community Aid York selected Bell as their third quarter RoundUp Program beneficiary and we recently learned that $7,083.26 was raised in the months of July, August, and September by customers rounding up their purchases to support Bell!
Community Aid York was nominated for an annual award for the way their leadership team and store associates pulled together for Bell, showing a true desire to learn more about our programs and services, and encouraging their customers to be a part of supporting Bell. The whole group was on hand to receive the Margo Atwood Community Services Award.
Margo Atwood was a founding volunteer from the Catholic Women’s Club of York. She volunteered her time to operate the Bell Club’s Monday Night Program for many years and also served as a long-time member of Bell’s Board of Directors. She was voted by the Board to be a Lifetime Member.