Check out this video from last year’s sale!

Join us at the Amherst Survival Center’s tenth annual Trash to Treasures used furniture sale on the Amherst Common on September 10-11, 2010. All of the money raised at the event supports programs that provide food, health and clothing to over 3,000 low-income residents of Hampshire and Franklin Counties.

Click here for more information.

Furniture donations can still be dropped off at the Common Tuesday-Friday (9/7-9) from 10-12 and from 2:30-5 PM or all day on Friday 9/10.

Looking for: sofas, chairs, tables, desks, bookcases, dressers, night stands, end tables, small & medium entertainment centers.

Not accepting: sleeper sofas, beds, mattresses/box springs, appliances, large metal desks, large china cabinets,  anything with a plug.

All iems are collected for resale, so please no damaged, mildewed, ripped, stained or broken items.

Amherst Survival Center buys former eatery, plans expansion

BY Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 07/07/2010 – 04:00

AMHERST – Officials at the Amherst Survival Center will slowly transform a former restaurant into the place where they provide free meals and services to local families and individuals in need.

The Survival Center recently closed on a $265,000 deal to purchase the former Roosters restaurant building at 138 Sunderland Road from Marion Leonard, who shuttered the eatery in 2007 after being in business for more than 30 years.

Cheryl Zoll, executive director of the center, said the new site, less than a mile north of its existing location at 1200 N. Pleasant St., will meet the center’s needs after what is expected to be a two- to three-year process to renovate and expand the building.

“We’re hoping to have space that preserves the real community feel … while providing enough to space to be more effective in delivering the services,” Zoll said.

These services for clients include hot meals from noon to 1 p.m. four days a week, free medical clinics, brown bag groceries for families of four once a month, a free store where people can pick up clothes and other supplies, and family events at night.

The need for new space has been spurred by a growing population of those being served, which can be upwards of 200 people a day.

In January, the center announced it was looking to move to a new home by 2015 after Kraus Fitch Architects Inc. issued a report that the current space is no longer sufficient. The Roosters site was identified by a Facilities Planning Committee last fall after about 30 locations were examined.

The property includes the main two-story building, the top floor of which is used as an apartment, and an attached barn. Though the usable space is only about equal to the 3,700 square feet used in the current building, Zoll said plans will include doubling the space.

This would include creating 1,000 to 2,000 square feet of new space in the barn, depending on how it is configured, and new construction that would take place on the south side of the main building.

“We’re planning that very carefully this summer,” Zoll said.

With additional space, Zoll said the center will be better able to collaborate with other agencies, such as Elliot Homeless Services and the Center for Human Development, and to offer new programs, possibly including teaching English as a second language and courses for those who need to get their graduate equivalent diplomas, as well as hosting Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

“We could make it more of a one-stop shop for people,” Zoll said.

There is also sufficient parking at the 1-acre site on Sunderland Road.

Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2010 All rights reserved Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/07/07/survival-center-buys-former-eatery-plans-expansion-move

The Amherst Survival Center announced today that it has purchased the former Roosters Restaurant at 138 Sunderland Road in North Amherst as the site for an expanded center.

Since 1975, the Amherst Survival Center has provided services from the basement of a schoolhouse located at 1200 North Pleasant Street, just ¼ mile south of the new location. In recent years, demand for the organization’s services has more than doubled, straining the limited capacity of its small space.

In response, the center’s Board of Directors formed a Facilities Planning Committee last fall to assess possible options.  After exploring over 30 potential sites, the committee identified the former Roosters as an ideal location for center expansion.

“The property meets all of our major criteria including affordability, location and access by public transportation,” said Cheryl Zoll, Executive Director of the Survival Center. “The move will allow us to more effectively deliver basic needs services to our clients over the long term.”

The project will involve renovation of the existing structure as well as construction of additional space in order to accommodate the full range of Center activities. The planning, fundraising and building phases are projected to take 2-3 years in total.

20:   20.8% of Amherst residents live in poverty

41:    Use of ASC services has gone up by 41% in 3 years

5:     For every $1  you donate, the ASC can provide $5 worth of services!

Amherst Survival Center at the 1st Annual Amherst Sustainability Festival!

The Amherst Survival Center joined local artisans, sustainable product suppliers, and renewable energy providers on the Amherst Common Saturday April 24th at the 1st annual Amherst Sustainability Festival.  The festival combined The Renewable Energy Fair, Amherst Grows Green and Arbor Day event.

The ASC was there to highlight how the Survival Center really is the ultimate green organization.

From reusing clothing and furniture to distributing locally grown produce to those in need, the Amherst Survival Center’s focus on recycling and protecting the environment shows in everything we do!

The Amherst Survival Center will again be a designated charity for the 8th Annual Supercuts SoccerFest on May 1st at UMass!

Press Release

Supercuts SoccerFest: From Amherst to Africa

Two local charities will be the big winners at this year’s 8th annual Supercuts SoccerFest, to be held Saturday, May 1st at the fields behind McGuirk Stadium on the UMass Amherst campus.

Themed “From Amherst to Africa,” this year’s event will benefit the Amherst Survival Center and former UMass soccer coach Ken Banda’s Banda Bola Foundation for children in his home village of Chituka in Malawi, Africa.

The cause marketing feature for the Amherst Survival Center will be a dunk tank featuring local celebrities including UMass student-athletes and coaches.  Any donation will provide 3 throws with proceeds going to the Amherst Survival Center.

“We’re delighted that SoccerFest has chosen to continue its relationship with and support of the Amherst Survival Center,” said Cheryl Zoll, the Center’s Executive Director.  “Those who attend will enjoy dunking local celebrities, all for a good cause.”  The Amherst Survival Center supports the health and well being of residents of Franklin and Hampshire counties with a wide variety of programs designed to help people meet their basic needs.  The Center serves over three thousand people from these counties each year.

The Chituka Village Project is a small privately run charity that collects donations of used and new sports equipment, school supplies, health products, and clothing.  There will be drop boxes present on the day of SoccerFest.  The project is designed to attract children to stay in school and shun attitudes that keep them away from education, such as a lack of motivation and a lack of resources.  It is our intentions as a class and department to assist in the delivering of these goods back to Chituka Village by donating 10% of registration fees to the Banda Bola Sports Foundation, as well as, any donations the day of the event.  Coach Ken Banda has remained active in the Amherst community since his departure holding a number of clinics each year for local youth.  Banda will be present for the event showing displays of footwork, running mini-clinics, and raffling off two full clinic sessions.

In its eighth year, the non-profit tournament is supported solely by sponsors and participant registration fees.  Tournament proceeds go toward the Erik Kjeldsen Scholarship Fund named after former UMass Sport Management professor Dr. Erik Kjeldsen.  Each year the Sport Management Department awards scholarships to two of its students who exemplify academic excellence and stellar work ethic.

Registration opened on April 1st, and will close on April 21st.  For any additional information on Supercuts SoccerFest, please visit http://www.soccerfest.org.  For information on the Chituka Village Project, please visit http://www.bandabola-soccer.com.  For information on the Amherst Survival Center, visit http://people.umass.edu/support/asc/