The Arc Eastern Connecticut Achieves Record Milestones at Donation Station

The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Donation Station team celebrates the 2-million mark for redeemable bottles and cans. 

For The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Donation Station in Woodstock, 2024 has been a record-breaking year. The bottle-and-can redemption center crushed a milestone in November by hitting the 2-million mark for processing returned containers. So far, the team has recycled 2,003,968 returnable items this year, which shatters the tally from last year (1,759,078). The record-breaking number has inspired team members. Anthony, a Donation Station employee, shouted, “Let’s do 3 million next year!”

The Donation Station also set a new one-day processing record of 22,671 items, smashing the previous record of 12,000. To handle the increased volume of donations, Executive General Manager Barry Shead added a second shift in November. The move has eliminated backlogs and kept operations running smoothly.

“This was a total team effort,” says Shead. “I couldn’t be prouder of our staff and participants for their dedication and hard work.”

The Donation Station—located at 22 CT-171, Woodstock, CT 06281—is one of The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s micro-enterprises, which provide paid employment and job-training opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and help fund critical programs.

“This is great news for The Donation Station, and for those of us committed to a cleaner Connecticut” says Kathleen Stauffer, CEO of The Arc ECT. “I’m overjoyed by the hard work by our team—and even more so by the results.”

About The Arc Eastern Connecticut

The Arc Eastern Connecticut is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for and supporting people with IDD in the communities of eastern Connecticut. Since its founding in 1952, the Agency has been committed to promoting inclusion, independence, and quality of life for people with IDD through advocacy, education, and community-based services. To learn more, please visit TheArcECT.org.