Streamwood Park District collects crayons to help SCARCE

The Streamwood Park District is recycling crayons and Altoid tins for use by special-needs students.

The crayons and mint containers are in turn donated to the Glen Ellyn-based School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education program, also known as SCARCE.

SCARCE takes whole crayons and packages them in the Altoid tins to create sets for students. Broken crayons are melted down to create "supercrayons" with the width of five or six regular crayons. These create thicker lines for children with vision problems and are easier to hold and use for children with some other kinds of disabilities, said Katie O'Brien, SCARCE's environmental educator.

The park district got involved with SCARCE during planning for last weekend's Streamwood Summer Celebration, which had a "reduce, reuse and recycle" theme this year, said Debbie Karner, district superintendent of recreation.

Also, given the tough economic times, organizers wanted to use the event to teach about giving back.

The crayon collection was started at the festival, but Karner said the district wanted to extend it to allow more participation. So the used crayons and tins will be accepted through Aug. 31 at Park Place Family Recreation Center, 550 S. Park Blvd. in Streamwood.

"Everyone with children usually has some broken crayons laying around the house," she said.

Karner found SCARCE through her work as a Cub Scout leader. Her troop had collected 286 pairs of shoes and donated them for one of the organization's many recycling programs. Teachers, nonprofits and churches are the primary recipients of SCARCE's resources, all of which are free.

SCARCE has been around for 19 years and the crayon donation started eight years ago. The group's main program is a textbook collection and donation. In July, 933 teachers and groups used SCARCE resources.

"We touch a lot of people," O'Brien said.

The Easter Seals of DuPage runs The Lily Garden, a child-care center that serves kids both with and without special needs. The center has worked with SCARCE to create projects and use resources that work within the curriculum to teach students about the environment. For example, SCARCE started a water barrel project to help educators teach about water conservation and caring for gardens.

"It's been really, really helpful to us," said Susan Mchabcheb, vice president of development for Easter Seals DuPage. "There are many other ways we could work with them."

To donate to or utilize SCARCE's resources, call (630) 545-9710. For more information visit bookrescue.org.