NOTE TO EDITOR: Photos taken as workers loaded the truck in Cranford, NJ, and unloaded it in New Orleans, LA, follow the press release.
TRUCKLOAD OF WINDOWS DONATED BY NJ AFFILIATE OF RENEWAL
BY ANDERSEN ARRIVES SAFELY IN NEW ORLEANS
Native New Orleanian Thanks RBA For ‘Helping Make New Orleans Whole Again’
CRANFORD, NJ – It’s been called a ‘chance to help make New Orleans whole again,’ and ‘a godsend,’ but for Larry Landes, ‘it’ was the least he could do.
On Oct. 12, a truck loaded with $200,000 worth of new windows pulled into the driveway of New Orleans-based The Green Project, after a three-day journey from
Renewal by Andersen’s Cranford, NJ, warehouse.
While the journey took only a few days, orchestrating it took far longer.
Landes, president of Renewal by Andersen of Central and Northern New Jersey, said he began trying to organize the donation of the windows in the weeks immediately following Hurricane Katrina, but it was too soon. “People were more focused then on finding the bare necessities, like clothing, food and housing, so we back burnered the idea and sent money instead.”
That changed when actor/activist Brad Pitt made the news recently with his green building initiative for New Orleans. “I thought, now the timing is perfect,” Landes said, and with that realization, began working the phones again.
It wasn’t long before he connected with The Green Project, a non-profit building-material collection and sales center widely regarded as an important player in efforts to rebuild livable neighborhoods. With a recipient lined up, Landes rented the largest truck available (short of a tractor trailer), lined up a driver (the son of an employee), and let a vendor know there would be room available in case they wanted to make a donation. They did. According to Landes, Standard Roofing of Perth Amboy donated enough siding for one house, which Landes’ workers then loaded into the truck, on top of the windows.
Also donating to the effort was LouMarc Signs of Somerville, who provided a pair of banners specially printed for each side of the truck. The banners read:
“New Orleans Bound Hurricane Katrina Relief.
Renewal by Andersen Replacement Windows of Central/Northern New Jersey.
Donating To The Rebuilding of the Communities.”
When Geri Kruszewski, marketing and events manager for Renewal by Andersen of Central and Northern New Jersey, called the owner of LouMarc to arrange for payment of the banners, he refused to charge her. “He said to me, ‘How can I possibly charge you when you’re doing this for New Orleans?’ I was flabbergasted by his kindness. Those banners were worth $1,400.”
And those banners now hang in the Cranford warehouse as a thank you to employees for all their hard work in helping make the donation a reality.
The Devastation is ‘Overwhelming,’ The Gift of Windows a ‘Godsend’
Getting a first-hand glimpse of the devastation was Eric Cardona, the driver who delivered the windows to New Orleans.
“I was happy to be asked, and when I saw how it was down there, I felt really good about helping out. It’s real ugly down there. It’s been a year, and it doesn’t look like they’ve done much,” Cardona said.
Word of the incoming windows spread quickly, and before Cardona began unloading the truck, people were lined up to buy windows. (The Green Project sells building materials at a fraction of their original cost.)
Press coverage of the donation prompted one reader to write, “I am a native New Orleanian who now lives on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain. You have to see the devastation to understand the scope of what we now face. It is overwhelming, and 13 months later, the progress is slow, to say the least. Construction supplies are in dire need, especially for those with little means to rebuild… Please let Mr. Landis know that he has my heartfelt thanks for helping make New Orleans whole again.”
Echoing that gratitude is David Reynolds, president of The Green Project, who called the window donation “a godsend. In New Orleans and the Louisiana parishes and Mississippi counties east of here, most households and businesses have experienced reduced income and sharply higher expenses after Hurricane Katrina. They could hardly afford new, high performance windows otherwise.”
Told of the response, Landes said he was only too glad to help. “It’s heartening to know that our windows are going to be used someplace where they will make a difference,” Landes said. “And it’s nice to know also that they truly fit in with the whole green initiative. Our windows are the only ones to be both Green Seal certified and ENERGY STAR® qualified, so they’re an environmentalist’s dream come true.” Learn more at www.renewalbyandersen.com.
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PHOTO OF CRANFORD EMPLOYEES IN FRONT OF THE TRUCK
A TRUE GROUP EFFORT -- Larry Landes, far right, president of Cranford-based Renewal by Andersen for Central and Northern New Jersey, gathers with employees in front of a rental truck loaded with $200,000 worth of windows. A short while later, the truck began the 1,288-mile journey to New Orleans, where the windows were donated to The Green Project, a non-profit organization providing recycled building materials to contractors and home owners in New Orleans, southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi coast.
PHOTO TAKEN IN NEW ORLEANS
‘A GODSEND’ – Volunteers at The Green Project in New Orleans unload $200,000 worth of windows donated by Cranford-NJ based Renewal by Andersen for Central and Northern New Jersey. David Reynolds, executive director of The Green Project, called the windows a godsend for the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area.