2022 Year in Review
We’re already several weeks into the new year, so this article may be a bit late, but we wanted to share this overall look at last year, and share some of our plans for 2023. 2022 was our first full year as an official nonprofit (we received our IRS nonprofit determination in the fall of 2021). As a nonprofit, there are more opportunities for fundraising, like getting government and foundation grants (we received our second grant ever last summer, from the Ohio EPA), and fundraising events like Yellow Cab Tavern & The Pizza Bandit’s Charity Bingo. We had two bingo events there last year, one in April and one in October. Both events were very successful and so much fun, and we’re already on the calendar again this spring.
We also had a fundraising event at Nowhere in Particular Brewery in November, which coincided with karaoke night there. We can’t wait to go back because we had so much fun!
We started the year with a goal to do monthly litter cleanups. There were a couple of months during which we weren’t able to do a cleanup, but also a couple of months with multiple cleanups. In the end, we organized or helped with 12 cleanup events in 2022.
In 2021, we didn’t do any presentations in the community, but last year, we were able to do seven presentations. Some were small, like talking to a Girl Scout troop about food waste and composting in December. The biggest presentation we did was last May, to over 200 fifth graders at Smith Middle School in Vandalia. Big or small, any time we get a chance to talk to people about reducing waste is worthwhile.
Another first for us was tabling at events. We were invited to several popup events, like at Reduce & Reuse Refillery and Pink Moon Goods. The biggest event we had a presence at was the Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark. We staffed one of the waste stations, and got to talk to a lot of people about our organization!
In addition to presentations and being at events, another way for us to reach people and raise awareness is through our appearances on television. Early in the year we were invited to be on Good Day Dayton, and we ended up being on the show six times last year. We are very thankful for their support, and for allowing us to come on the show and share our events.
The final highlight to share is that we started actively trying to grow our team. We added two members to our team in 2022, Cassie, our Program Coordinator, and Callie, our Volunteer Coordinator.
So, what do we have in store for 2023? Much of the same, like monthly litter cleanups, presentations, and hopefully more television appearances. We also want to do more with addressing food waste and promoting composting, and educating the public more about recycling. Our next monthly newsletter will be coming out soon, where you will hear about upcoming events, and other initiatives we are working on, like launching our new podcast!
We’re looking forward to another productive year of promoting sustainability and caring for our community.