Today’s blog post comes from Lauren Cantrell, an intern at The Mustard Seed of Central Florida.

At The Mustard Seed there are few things that we value more than unity, our volunteers, and the individual. So we are extremely excited for the week of April 10-16 when we will witness a nationwide movement of individuals pushing aside their differences for the sake of their communities.

The Mustard Seed is a furniture and clothing bank.  When families need furniture or clothing they contact a referring agency (another nonprofit, school, social worker, or church) then that agency fills out a form telling us what the family needs.

Depending on the needs of the family or individual, we will disperse anything from beds, desks, drawers, appliances, or a combination of all of those things.  The items we give the families are donations from other individuals, retail stores, cruise ships and hotels.  We also recycle everything from metal to broken appliances and more recently mattresses.  Through the process of deconstruction we have successfully diverted over 80,000 cubic feet of material from entering the solid waste stream.

As we celebrate National Volunteer Week 2011, we hope that you will join us in our efforts to create a healthier society, a cleaner environment, and a nation of altruism.

Our volunteers are a dedicated group of college students, church groups, older adults, and members of other non-profit organizations.  As a nonprofit with only 8 paid employees, the success of our organization is contingent on the hard work provided by our volunteers!

Alone you can make a difference; together we can change the world!

Lauren is a student at the University of Central Florida working on her master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management.  She is the Treasurer of Habitat for Humanity UCF.  She is an intern at The Mustard Seed of Central Florida and loves every aspect of it from the people that she works with to the mission itself.  She also loves Dave Matthews Band, climbing, and music festivals.