Max Kyck, General Manager of KMK Metals Recycling recently presented a cheque for €600 to the Midlands Simon Community following another successful Christmas lights recycling appeal in County Westmeath.
Shoppers were encouraged to drop off their old and broken Christmas lights to Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone, as well as locations in Mullingar and Tullamore, throughout December and January and for every set of Christmas lights recycled, KMK Metals Recycling made a donation to the Midlands Simon Community.
This year 60kg more was collected than in 2022/2023 and 80kg more than 2021/2022. The company added to the amount raised to bring the total donation up to €600.
Since 2015, KMK Metals Recycling has been running their Christmas lights recycling campaign, starting out with just the Bridge Centre in Tullamore before expanding to include Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone and Harbour Place Shopping Centre in Mullingar.
The public were urged to drop off any Christmas lights that could not be repaired or reused and place them in specially-designed trolleys located in each shopping centre.
“It is great to see the amount of Christmas lights collected going up every year again after a real slowdown during the pandemic. As well as the amounts collected through the shopping centres, we also noticed an increase in Christmas lights cabling from other sources such as recycling centres and electrical retailers, so the message is getting across about the importance of recycling old and broken sets. We are delighted to be able to donate €600 to the Midlands Simon Community once again as the work they carry out supporting the homeless community is vitally important,” Max Kyck, General Manager of KMK Metals Recycling, said.
Midlands Simon Community offers many services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to help get them back on their feet as quickly as possible. The charity offers services and support to people in the Midlands region of Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Longford and aims to help users of the service to rebuild their lives and move out of homelessness into a permanent home.
“This year in particular, we have found it more challenging to raise much-needed funds. Money is tight for a lot of people and there are so many worthy causes that generous Irish people are continuously giving to. We are very grateful for this support and thankful to all the public who brought their Christmas lights in to be recycled in order to raise money for the Midlands Simon Community,” Noel Greene, Community Fundraising Coordinator at Midlands Simon Community, said.
