Being a guest columnist for The Rickie Report offers me the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about many art related community events and institutions. My most recent assignment was to interview Jennifer O’Brien, the Executive Director of Resource Depot. Resource Depot is one of the most creative and FUN waste recycling institutions I’ve ever visited. Below is a short excerpt from my discussion with Jennifer.
I asked Jennifer: What is Resource Depot and how was it started?
Her response: Resource Depot is a nonprofit creative reuse center that has been serving the Palm Beach County community for more than 16 years. In 1999, several influential partners and collaborators in the community joined together to form Resource Depot. Some of those organizations are still involved today, including Children’s Services Council, Solid Waste Authority, United Way of Palm Beach County, the School District of PBC, Florida Power and Light and SunFest.
We started as an educational and environmental initiative to reduce the amount of waste that was going into the landfill by diverting materials being disposed of that were still reusable. These donated materials from businesses and individuals were collected by Resource Depot and distributed to the educational community, specifically to help stretch the budgets of nonprofit organizations and teachers.
Resource Depot has stayed with that mission. However, since moving to a new, larger location in 2013, in West Palm Beach, the organization has not only expanded its physical footprint, but also expanded our programs and services. Now that we are more centrally located in the county we do more than just provide materials. We provide DIY resources and ideas for projects, host field trips and workshops for students and families as well as show artwork of local “junk artists” in our gallery.
Many people don’t realize that membership to Resource Depot is open to anyone in the community. Of course, teachers continue to shop here, as well as artists, families, home school moms and other community groups.
Please click here to read the entire article and see more photos.
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