By Van Beall

When Ames received the gift of two buildings on May 25, 2022, totaling over 36,000 square feet, the stipulation was that the previous owner could leave the building “as is, where is”, meaning whatever was left behind was for Ames to deal with. This was a very fair arrangement and since that time almost thirty tons of debris has been removed from the buildings. The best part is that Ames was paid for recycling over 21,000 pounds of paper and over 24,000 pounds of metal!

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped sort the paper, dismantle wooden and metal shelves, and clean offices (plus trim trees around the properties). Several people also had fun pushing very old filing cabinets over a 14-ft drop from the second floor to the first floor, which were then included in the metal recycling. Ultimately, these buildings will become part of Ames’ effort to build a community center campus called Resurrection Sandtown.

If you would like to learn a little more about this effort, please visit www.ResurrectionSandtown.org.