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The Steel City Big Pour is a good time for a good cause

2007 - First Steel City Big Pour

The Steel City Big Pour is a good time for a good cause

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The First Steel City Big Pour in 2007
The first Steel City Big Pour in 2007.

Greeting craft beer fans,

As the yearly orgaizational fundraiser for Construction Junction, the Steel City Big Pour®  is more than a great selection of craft beverages, food, music and art! Many times we are asked the question: What does the Big Pour have to do with reuse?

The first Big Pour was held way back in 2007. Construction Junction launched the event because we needed to diversify the organization’s revenue in order to facilitate our day to day operation, including 100,000 square feet of rented space, over 30 employees, free donation pickup and deconstruction services. Reuse on a large scale creates many overhead costs, from Worker’s Compensation Insurance to rent to supplies. The revenue from sales of donated items is only enough to pay for around 90% of the bills we have to pay to keep the store and warehouse going. In order to raise money to support the other 10% of our core running costs, we needed a fundraising idea. A group of CJ supporters came up with the answer – and the Big Pour was born. The success of this event has also allowed us to make occasional improvements and undertake partnerships and community programming. Filling the gap between our operating costs and the revenue from sales is the reason we hold the Big Pour fundraiser each year.

Image Text reads: Construction Junction Building Material Reuse, 5.5 million materials diverted from landfills since 1999. Public retail sales, free donation pick up and drop off, deconstruction & material salvage, job training programs, material re-gives for nonprofits, workshops & classes. Every dollar supports 82% of operation.
Image Text reads: For every $1 in sales, it's invested in: 21% rent & utilities, 64% staffing, 6% administration, 4% job training, 3% logistics, 2% insurance. Daily cost of operation: $5,445.42. Construction Junction's Steel City Big Pour & grants cover the remaining 18% of operation.
Image text reads: (20 Years of CJ Truck logo) Our programs allow us to share the benefits of reuse with individuals and groups throughout the local community. CJ celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2019. We are proud of the many materials kept out of landfills! Thank you for your support in making reuse a success in Pittsburgh! Construction Junction Partners: Global Links, Goodwill, Studio Blue, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Free Ride, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, Pillow Project, Computer Reach, Urban Design Build Studio, Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, South Hilltop Men's Group, Handmade Arcade, Society for Contemporary Craft, Appliance Warehouse, Landforce, Off The Floor Pittsburgh, Salvaged PGH, Doors Unhinged, AIA Pittsburgh Committee on the Environment, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, City of Pittsburgh.

Job training

Construction Junction is also committed to supporting the larger community, through employment and training schemes for those with barriers to employment, including an on-site job skills training program run by Goodwill. Over that last 7 years this program has grown to support between 5 and 8 paid trainess (people with barriers to employment) who work in full-time positions to assist with various aspects of processing donated materials while learning practical and retail skills.

Goodwill trainees stocking tile aisle, 2018.
Representatives of CJ and Goodiwl at the Goodwill Power of Work Awards.
Goodwill job trainees and instructors in the door processing area, 2017.

Community outreach

From giving tours of Construction Junction, to spreading the word at events around the area, to collection events, our Community Outreach connects you with reuse throughout the Pittsburgh area. We have hosted all sorts of school groups, everything from elementary through college, scout troops, service organizations, and even out of town dignitaries from as far away as Uzbekistan. We love to show folks around and tell the CJ story – we are more than just a retail store, and tours are great way to learn about all that we do. (If you’re interested, please give us a shout at outreach@cjreuse.org.)

When our full-time community outreach coordinator, Terry Wiles, isn’t busy securing sponsors, vendors, and volunteers to ensure that we can hold a successful Big Pour year in and year out, he is busy coordinating our deconstruction department, chasing down leads on possible salvaged opportunities, listing items in our CJ eBay store, and managing recycling partnerships, collection events, and community programs. You may have had the chance to meet him at a reuse focused tour for youth, various industry engagement events, or other outreach appearances. He is always busy providing mission information and awareness to the public as we continue to build a circular economy here in Western Pennsylvania that can benefit everyone!

CJ Truck at 2014 ReuseFest.
A group of Pitt students tours the CJ community room space.
Construction Junction booth at the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show.

CJ ReGives program

Terry also handles our CJ ReGives program, a way for us to donate material back to other nonprofits. Started in 2011, CJ ReGives provides support to local social service, environmental and art focused nonprofits through the donation of building material and furniture. We are not able to support every request we receive, and preference is given to environmentally sustainable building projects, art installations, theater productions, community gardens and the material needs of social service organizations.

Furniture donated to Plum High School theater department for their performance of "Annie".
CJ staff unloading donated furniture for the Studio Blue project.

We are also engaged in developing cutting edge partnerships:

Providing affordable cost spaces for building subtenants:

The Big Pour is one of the critical pieces of the financial resources that come together every year to make CJ more than a store. We are a community resource that actively seeks impactful, innovative partnerships. Your support through donating materials, purchasing materials, and attending the Big Pour helps us touch the lives and projects of tens of thousands of people in our region.  

A zero-waste event

In 2009, Zero Waste Pittsburgh was created to provide waste reduction services and resources in Western Pennsylvania. Today, Zero Waste Pennsylvania provides waste reduction techniques to various commercial businesses, residents, institutions, and special events across the state.

Zero Waste Crew volunteers at the Big Pour.
The 2018 PRC Zero Waste Awards recipients.
More Zero Wast Crew volunteers at the Big Pour.

We’d like to raise a glass to everyone who has attended, bought a shirt or a raffle ticket, volunteered or assisted in any way whatsoever in making each Steel City Big Pour possible here at CJ! Through the years of Big Pour fundraisers have created the equivalent of over an entire extra year’s worth of revenue to help make so many things possible at CJ that we would not otherwise be able to accomplish, including our deconstruction program and job training programs.

Thank you for helping us grow the impact of reuse!

Mike Gable, Executive Director, and the staff of Construction Junction

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