PARKS AND RECREATION KEEP PROGRAMS GOING WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM NAEIR

Lee County Parks & Recreation Department provides a wide range of programs and activities for the community, their guests, and visitors. Fort Myers and Cape Coral are the two largest cities making up Lee County, Florida. They record a year round population of 440,000 residents, adding another 200,000 tourists September through April.

As one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, Lee County Parks & Recreation provides a variety of programs and activities such as summer camps, holiday parties, community centers for children, and they support other wonderful programs such as the Special Olympics.

With many events on their plate throughout the year, the Parks & Recreation Department can’t rely on government and outside funding for the service they want to offer. To supplement their budget for such items as sporting equipment, craft supplies, party decorations and gift items, the department had to seek out a more cost effective way to secure the items they needed.

Who Was That Resource?

Being a not-for-profit department, Lee County Parks & Recreation is eligible to receive free products and supplies from NAEIR, the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, located in Galesburg, Illinois. Since 1992, the Parks & Recreation Department has been a member of NAEIR.

NAEIR’s program helps organizations with tight budgets get items they need. NAEIR accepts donations of new, excess inventory from U.S. businesses and redistributes those goods to nonprofit organizations in need of toys, games and other children’s items, office supplies, maintenance materials, decorations, and other amenities for children and adults.

The merchandise that NAEIR members receive is FREE. The only membership costs include dues ranging from $495 to $595 per year, plus shipping and handling. Members choose what they need from 200-page catalogs, special offer fliers, and an on-line site, NAEIR e-xpress, at www.naeir.org.

Bonnie Peters, Office Support/Customer Service for Lee County, has her own system for getting the most out of the membership and the NAEIR catalogs. Her method is to send in long, diverse requests which often exceed the average allocation. She also makes requests for certain items months in advance of when they will be needed.

“I give the catalog to the different department heads to select what they need and in what quantities,” she explained. “When I get the catalog back, I simply list the items on the request form and fax it in to NAEIR.”

Rewarding Experience

10 years of smiles on the faces of families and children is the reward for the Lee county Parks & Recreation Department. Thanks to the allocations they received from NAEIR. Since joining NAEIR, the department has received sporting equipment such as softball bats and gloves, baseball caps and basketball backboards. They have received party and craft supplies such as paper plates, cups, napkins, gift bags, wrapping paper, decorations, Halloween costumes, pencils, markers, stencils and stickers. They have also obtained a variety of dolls, puppets, stuffed animals, costume jewelry, cosmetics and books.

“With all the special events we have all year long, we are really grateful for the resources we receive from NAEIR.”

Craft items and kitchen ware are on the Parks & Recreation Department wish list. They host more than 4,000 children at summer camps and they hold year-round classes at community centers. Activities with the Parks & Recreation Department are made more special with little things like face painting and small prizes.

Lee County also uses items as gifts for children in need, as the holidays can put more of a strain on the budget. “At Christmastime, we give out gifts, provide lunches, and also help with Special Olympics,” Peters said.

According to Peters, Lee County Parks & Recreation Department could not provide the programs they do without NAEIR’s help. “We save thousands of dollars a year through NAEIR,” Peters added.

According to Gary Smith, president and chief executive officer of NAEIR, “We have collected and redistributed over $2 billion worth of donated goods over the past 26 years, and many nonprofit organizations such as Lee County Parks & Recreation Department rely on NAEIR for supplementing reduced budgets. Our members receive an average of $18,000 worth of new supplies each year, which is roughly a 30-1 return on their dues investment.”

Since 1977, American businesses have donated over $2 billion worth of products to the program. Corporations that donate to NAEIR earn a federal income tax deduction for donating their overstock and discontinued inventory.

NAEIR, the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, is a not-for-profit distributor of supplies to nonprofit organizations, including county government departments, social service agencies, schools and churches. NAEIR operates a 10-acre warehouse with $100 million worth of inventory from its headquarters in Galesburg, Illinois.