The death of Ron Bloch last year has derailed a major recycling program and led members of Housing Opportunities Made Equal (H.O.M.E.) to seek help recreating the service. Mr. Bloch had organized and carried out the recycling effort, taking paper products to Manistique and donating any proceeds to H.O.M.E. After his death, a lack of volunteers and discontinuance of a travel allowance paid by the paper company forced the service to be canceled.

H.O.M.E. Director Lori Pieri, who worked closely with Mr. Bloch, said her organization will be happy to continue the program, but cannot afford to subsidize it at the expense of funding affordable housing in the county.

She said there are three ways the program could be saved.

The first would be to locate a dedicated volunteer with a good driving record to take over some of Mr. Bloch’s duties. These would include collecting paper from established drop-off sites and hauling it in a trailer (owned and insured by H.O.M.E) to Manistique Papers, Inc. Such a volunteer would need his or her own vehicle, Mrs. Pieri said.

The H.O.M.E. board can provide money for food and 44.5¢ per mile for the drive to Manistique, but the organization cannot provide return mileage. The trip is 45 miles each way.

Mr. Bloch had an agreement with Manistique Papers to provide return mileage, and a new volunteer would have to negotiate a similar agreement, if possible.

“It would be a charitable contribution, for sure,” Mrs. Pieri said. A passionate volunteer would break even on the cost , but he or she would need an entire day to get the job done.

The second option would be to establish a facility to store recyclable paper in St. Ignace, Mrs. Pieri said. In this case, H.O.M.E would make monthly trips to Manistique, but the organization would need a machine and volunteers to bail the paper.

“This option could work very well,” she said.

A third option would be for another non-profit organization, or government entity, to take over the recycling program entirely.

Recycling helps local businesses, Mrs. Pieri said. It decreases the volume of trash in dumpsters and lowers disposal fees.

“It would be a shame to let the recycling program go,” she added. “There are many organizations with large amounts of paper to recycle.

“It is difficult for us to stop doing this,” Mrs. Pieri said. “We want to continue the program.” She noted that Mr. Bloch, who died September 17, 2005, was a committed and valued member of the organization’s board.

The primary function of H.O.M.E., however, is to provide affordable housing for people of moderate and low incomes.

At its December board meeting, H.O.M.E members assessed their budget and determined that the organization could no longer run the recycling program without losing money.

The last trip to Manistique was Saturday, February 4.

Bob Lofdahl and other volunteers in St. Ignace say they will continue to pick up paper from individual households, and businesses such as The St. Ignace News and government organizations are willing to save paper for the project.

The trailer is now stored at the Catholic Center on Spring Street.

Mr. Bloch used to allow residents to deliver paper to him and, said Mrs. Pieri, he was always increasing the size of his route to collect recyclable paper and even traveled as far west as Marquette.

He collected a large volume of paper which enabled the recycling project to pay for itself. For every 5,000 tons of paper delivered to Manistique, she said, the paper company paid $137.

Mr. Bloch received the Recycler of the Year Award from the Upper Peninsula Recyclers Coalition. His collection sites included the Mackinac County Court House, St. Ignace City Hall, township offices, post offices, churches, schools, a number of households, the distributor for Detroit newspapers, The St. Ignace News, and local restaurants.

According to Mrs. Pieri, he maintained good relations with people everywhere he went, in part, because he spent his time providing such a helpful service.

Those who would like more information about volunteer opportunities in the recycling program may call H.O.M.E. of Mackinac County at 643-6239.