Thursday, May 4 is Idaho Gives Day, when a number of charitable organizations team up to encourage donations to the nonprofit sector. Ūsful Glassworks is one of those. But for them, the May 4 deadline is a bit more dire.
Ūsful Glassworks takes abandoned glass bottles and turns them into usable items like windchimes, cups and soap dispensers. Their workforce is made up of at-risk youth, refugees, the homeless, low-income seniors and others who need a helping hand back into employment.
Executive director Carlyn Blake explains how at the start, the organization didn't have enough money to hire experienced, educated management.
"The organization started out as small nonprofit in a very small 2,000 square-foot facility down on Chinden, Blake says. "We are now in a 10,000 square-foot facility up on Franklin. We have more program participants than we’ve ever had."
Ūsful Glassworks first opened in 2008. Due to the company's growth, they need money to pay for additional wages. They’ve been running a fundraiser now for 30 days and their final push will be on Idaho Gives Day.
"Idaho Gives is such a wonderful event to be a part of every year and so we decided to make it the final day of our fundraiser," Blake says.
Their goal is $250,00.
For more local news, follow the KBSX newsroom on Twitter @KBSX915
Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio