Having opened its doors in November of 2005, Community Forklift celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year. It’s fitting as part of the milestone commemoration to highlight some of the people, organizations, and businesses that have been essential in the growth and development of our reuse nonprofit’s mission.
“Community Forklift is only possible with the contributions of so many community members, material donors, nonprofit organizations, and other groups” says Community Forklift Executive Director Trey Davis. “Their vision, hard work, and dedication empowers our reuse hub to reduce waste, create local jobs, and provide critical free and low-cost materials to our community.”
We will present awards to three of our many instrumental supporters at our 20th Anniversary Salvage Soirée at Community Forklift on October 16:
JANE SOLOMON
Community Forklift is the name that unites the efforts, resources, and skills of a large group of passionate and dedicated people working to create positive change through the salvaging and redistributing of material resources.
One of these early positive changemakers, Jane Solomon has been instrumental in shaping and nurturing Community Forklift’s development over the past two decades. When Jane and husband Daniel deconstructed their Washington, DC, home, materials from the project became part of the reuse warehouse’s opening inventory. Jane is currently a member of Community Forklift’s Board of Directors — which she led as Chair for ten years — and an ongoing supporter of Community Forklift’s mission. She also serves as a trustee of the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation.
This Cornerstone Award celebrates Jane’s deep and long-standing commitment to Community Forklift through her leadership, time, energy, and resources.
BOWA
Donated materials are the fuel that powers Community Forklift’s reuse machine. We appreciate and depend on the many homeowners, contractors, building supply companies, designers, and community members who are committed to providing a second use for their materials by donating them to our nonprofit.
Design-build firm BOWA is one of our material donors that is committed to good stewardship of the materials that they put into and take out of homes in our area. Since 2013, BOWA has worked with Community Forklift to redistribute to the community the salvageable building materials in their care instead of sending them to the landfill.
“Community Forklift is a wonderful place doing wonderful work. We are happy to help our clients, help this organization and their customers, and help the planet by reusing construction materials. They make it easy for us to do the right thing,” says BOWA VP of Best Practices, Doug Horgan.
This Industry Partner Award recognizes BOWA’s commitment to the community and environment and the countless projects and positive impacts made possible by their donated materials. Learn more about Community Forklift’s partnership with BOWA on our website.
EMMA’S TORCH
A reuse organization also needs to be adept at returning materials to use. Many community members and local businesses shop directly in our reuse warehouse, but Community Forklift also partners with hundreds of nonprofit groups to put salvaged items to work in our area.
One of these nonprofits is Emma’s Torch, a social enterprise that offers in-depth culinary training and employment education to refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking. The team at Emma’s Torch used salvaged materials acquired through a grant from our Community Building Blocks (CBB) program to help build out their café on Rhode Island Ave.
“The Community Forklift team was extremely knowledgeable and kind, helping us create a beautiful space for dining. As a non-profit, there is not always a lot of money available. A program like CBB truly helps us be able to do what we do and use our resources to help our students achieve their career goals,” says April Hayes, Front of House Manager at Emma’s Torch.
This Community Partner Award honors how Emma’s Torch uses salvaged materials to effect positive impact in our community. Learn more about their work on our website.
Please join us in celebrating the contributions of our awardees at the Salvage Soirée! The evening includes BBQ from award-winning 2Fifty, bluegrass stringband Cherry Blossom Special, drinks by Denizens Brewing Co., interactive salvage vignettes created by local designers, a silent auction, and more! Visit our website for tickets and more information.
“Community Forklift is a wonderful place doing wonderful work. We are happy to help our clients, help this organization and their customers, and help the planet by reusing construction materials. They make it easy for us to do the right thing.”
“The Community Forklift team was extremely knowledgeable and kind, helping us create a beautiful space for dining. As a non-profit, there is not always a lot of money available. A program like CBB truly helps us be able to do what we do and use our resources to help our students achieve their career goals.”
Every time you donate or shop at Community Forklift, you’re helping us lift up local communities through reuse. We turn the construction waste stream into a resource stream for communities in the DC region – by keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill, preserving historical materials, providing low-cost building supplies, and creating local green jobs.
