EDWARDSVILLE - The Junior Service Club (JSC) of Edwardsville continues to fund projects that make a difference in the Edwardsville area.
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The Junior Service Club provided another needed donation of $2,550 to Project 612 at Mark’s Appliance on Tuesday.
Project 612 is a food recovery program working in K-12 schools. The organization has recovered and donated thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise have been thrown away. Project 612 volunteers recover unopened prepackaged food items that are destined for cafeteria trash bins and donate them to food distribution charities.
The program has been in operation since 2011. Project 612 co-directors, Renee Guttman and Gwyn Marini, said they were inspired by the Bible verse John 6:12 where Jesus instructs his disciples to let nothing be wasted after a meal. The program is evolving to meet the school districts changing food recovery needs. Part of that evolution includes the need to purchase refrigerators for each participating school.
“Last year, thanks to a generous $500 donation from Junior Service Club and an amazing deal on refrigerators from Mark's Appliance, we were able to pilot a new collection procedure for our program in two district schools,” said Marini.
"Project 612 hopes to use the latest JSC donation to purchase refrigerators, coolers and dry food storage bins to expand to other district schools. Every school added means less leftover food is going into a land fill and more is being redirected to organizations like the Glen Ed Pantry."
Marini added, “Without the support of Junior Service and Mark’s Appliance, Project 612 would not be in a position to meet the changing food recovery needs of the district.”
“Mark’s Appliance is committed to involvement in the community and is happy to support local groups like Project 612,” said Abe Harper, a Mark’s Appliance employee.
The Junior Service Club said it is also proud to support local groups like Project 612. JSC funds these donations through a variety of fundraising efforts. The next fundraiser will be a Casino Night on Feb. 10. For more information about Junior Service Club, please visit www.edglenjuniorservice.org.
