Participating in a circular economy is not at the top of everyone’s mind, but perhaps, it should be. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a circular economy “…reduces material use, redesigns materials and products to be less resource intensive, and recaptures ‘waste’ as a resource to manufacture new materials and products.”
In the case of nonprofit organization Education Assistance Lt. (EALgreen), that means redirecting corporate inventory surplus like furniture, heavy equipment, plumbing materials, HVAC items and power tools for use at higher education institutions for a nominal fraction of the cost of the item. Universities that benefit from these cost savings from EAL — generated from reduced spending on essential operational items — are asked to pay the kindness forward in the form of scholarships for students with financial need.
In 2008, Olivet Nazarene University formed a partnership agreement with EAL. Several years of inter-departmental collaboration, dedicated leadership from Rob Lalumendre in Facilities, and careful stewardship of EAL scholarships by the Olivet team has generated around $4.26 million of financial support for Olivet students.
Cyclical Collaboration
In the early 1980s, two business colleagues Verlyn “Swede” Roskam and Dan Mickelson wanted to address a consistent problem they noticed with corporate inventory surplus in the supply chain industry. Both had benefitted from scholarships during their undergraduate studies and wanted to pay things forward. They creatively developed a solution that would fund college scholarships while reducing waste in a company’s supply chain. From that idea, their nonprofit organization, EAL (now EALgreen), was created.
The first college partnership was with North Park University in northern Illinois. In 1982, Grainger, an industrial supply company, donated unused motors to EAL. The organization passed on the equipment to North Park for a small handling fee. In exchange, EAL asked the university to use its cost savings to open budget money for student scholarships. In a truly full-circle moment, the recipient of that very first EAL scholarship, Claudia Freed, is now the CEO and president of the organization.
Since its founding, EAL’s partnership reach has expanded to more than 40 colleges and universities around the United States — including a few of Olivet’s Nazarene sister schools, Trevecca and Mt. Vernon. In the last 40 years, the nonprofit has impacted more than 25,000 college students with financial support. According to the EAL website, this initiative to reduce waste and invest in education has additionally diverted more than 100,000 tons of usable materials and equipment from landfills.
Giving Forward
Sometimes, the inventory items that are corporately donated to EAL are not quite the right fit for college partners, either because of the condition or type of product, resulting in monetization of these items or responsibly managing the product’s end-of-life cycle. This secondary movement of inventory generates revenue that is primarily used to provide additional financial support to its educational partners as an additional scholarship source.
Olivet has received more than $800,000 just from these cash donations from EAL. Each year between 50-75 students with assessed financial need receive scholarships that range from $500-2,000 — amounts that can meaningfully bridge gaps in financial aid. Over the years, this has resulted in more than 1,700 scholarship recipients through the EAL partnership.
“I simply cannot say enough about how great this partnership has been,” says Greg Bruner, financial aid director, who has managed the financial aid side of the EAL partnership for more than a decade. “Starting in 2020 they have been sending us $100,000 EACH YEAR, and I have awarded those funds to needy students. It has been a life-changing award for many of [them].”
For more information about student financial aid, visit Olivet.edu/Admissions
If your company is interested in partnering with EAL to offload surplus inventory, visit the EALgreen website and schedule a conversation about becoming a donor.
Many thanks to Maitreyi Siruguri, director of education partnerships, for facilitating the partnership between Olivet Nazarene University and EALgreen.
