May Newsletter, Sales, and Coupon!

Thanks to everyone who responded to our request for interviews for a White House video on green businesses. We are still waiting to hear if we'll be selected for a segment, so we'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, I just wanted to share some of the testimonials we received. Thanks to your donations and purchases, Community Forklift really does "lift" our community! Listen to this:

Camille N., a DC homeowner, says:

In just two months, Community Forklift has saved me almost $2000, minimized my contributions to the landfill, and changed my outlook on breathing new life into my own old but still functional materials and equipment. Overwhelmed by the cost to repair my 100-year old home, CF's super-affordable prices make my necessary repairs possible.
Unlike traditional home improvement centers, CF sells remnants so that I can buy only what I need to "consume" for my project (e.g., plywood, molding), reducing debris and waste from my project.
Buying salvaged materials and tools has changed my outlook on repairing and reusing existing materials and equipment. What I once saw as broken, out-dated or imperfect in my house, I now think about how I can repair, reuse and extend the life of functional but less-than-perfect materials and equipment.

Kelley Ellsworth, Executive Director of a local nonprofit, says:

Byte Back is a nonprofit which provides computer and job training to low-income adults and at-risk youth. In December we received a $40,000 grant to renovate our building. Given the economy, we decided to be as frugal as possible. We got donated paint from Community Forklift and had three paintings days which brought in a total of 25 volunteers donating a day of their time. We hired a contractor to install a wheelchair accessible bathroom. We did quite a bit of aesthetic work on our basement classroom. When it came time to carpet the room, we again turned to Community Forklift. They donated thousands of dollars of lovely surplus carpet tiles for our classroom.
Thanks to our volunteers and the in-kind donations from Community Forklift, our renovation came in almost $10,000 under budget. The foundation that gave the grant has allowed us to transfer those funds to needed operating support.
Due to the economy, our classes all had waiting lists. Thanks to the additional funds, and the fact that our basement classroom has improved so much, we are now able to almost double the number of classes we can provide to our students. Community Forklift made a critical difference in helping us to better serve those who are seeking to retrain for employment.