The culmination of donations over eight months was quite a sight at Saint Leo University recently.
Dozens of students, faculty and staff gathered on April 18 at the university’s northeast campus parking lot to witness 14 pallets — containing 8,000 pounds of plastic bottle caps — being loaded onto a 53-foot trailer, and sent to Bluegrass Recycling in Kentucky.
This school year, the university collaborated with Caps of Love, a Florida-based, nonprofit organization that recycles three grades of plastic caps and lids that are sold to the Kentucky-based recycling company.
All proceeds from the recycling are used to purchase new and refurbished wheelchairs that are donated to children in the United States with mobility disabilities.
Since 2014, Caps of Love has provided 32 wheelchairs to people under the age of 21, that are in need.
The charitable organization was founded over nine years ago by Valerie Mathieu of West Palm Beach, and it received its 501 (c) (3) status about four years ago.
After learning about a similar charity overseas, Mathieu figured she’d bring the program to the U.S. She was impressed by both its environmental and humanitarian components.
“It’s primarily an environmental charity and educating children on how to recycle properly—how to identify what is recyclable,” Mathieu said. “Our country is not really good at recycling, so this is an easy way to learn how to recycle and identify the different grades of plastic. …At the same time, we have the humanitarian side where we’re providing wheelchairs for handicapped children in the U.S.”
With many wheelchairs ranging from $5,000 to well over $22,000, the expense is often a financial burden for families with special needs children, Mathieu said.
“Insurance gives them a basic wheelchair, and they only receive wheelchairs every couple of years, so they outgrow it, and it’s up to the parents to just purchase a new one,” Mathieu said, noting her organization will soon give out 70 more wheelchairs. ”We also have a lot of families in this country that do not have insurance, and their children do not get wheelchairs, so that’s where we come in,” Mathieu said.
The program’s simplicity and purpose made it an ideal fit for the university to participate in the philanthropy project, satisfying its ‘community’ core value, said Heidi D’ Ambrosio, senior coordinator for Residence Life.
“We’d have competitions at the (residence) halls of who could collect the most caps,” D’ Ambrosio said. “We’d have sorting events, and we’d spend hours sorting them, because they have to be in three different grades.”
The three grades of plastic caps they recycled were polypropylene No. 5, and polyethylene No. 2 and No. 4 plastic caps, which are valuable in bulk.
“The most important thing is getting the three different grades collected correctly,” Mathieu said. “All three grades have about the same value and are sold by the pound, but when they’re mixed together, they have no value.”
With over 14 collection sites throughout the Saint Leo campus, the program quickly spread through word of mouth, as Greek Life organizations and student affairs staff members got involved.
“It (became) a constant thing that when you have a bottle cap, you put it in the basket,” said Ashley Montas, a freshman criminal justice major. “It’s pretty easy.”
Ryliegh D’ Ambrosio, a freshman psychology major, said the program helped unite the university.
“I feel that it brought sororities and (other) departments all together on campus for a good cause,” she said. “I didn’t realize how many (caps) it was until we finished.”
Community service hours were calculated based on the number of caps brought in. For example, if a student brought in 100 caps, they were rewarded with one service hour, and if they brought in 200 caps, they received two service hours.
“We’d like to continue this because we have so many people now that want to get involved with it,” D’ Ambrosio said.
For more information about Caps of Love, visit CapsOfLove.com.
Published April 27, 2016
