Appliances from Silver Oaks to be Donated to Service Agencies

About 520 appliances from the will be donated to service agencies in Kent and Portage County.

Bridget Susel, Kent's acting director of the , said she worked with the new owners of the property, Capstone Development Corp., to orchestrate the donation when she learned the developer would be replacing all the major appliances in the complex.

Susel said Capstone plans to donate 260 refrigerators and stoves to Family & Community Services and the .

"It will help a lot of families in the county that are in need," she said. "I’m glad to see it will help people and not end up in a landfill."

Susel said some of the appliances were recently replaced, making them fairly new, and the bulk are in "gently used" condition.

operates the Freedom House, a homeless and transitional shelter for veterans, Miller Community House, a general homeless shelter, and Safer Futures, a shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse, in Portage County.

Carole Beaty, of F&CS, said the donated appliances will allow the non-profit to update equipment in those shelters and in other low-income housing in the Kent area.

The appliances also will be donated by F&CS to former residents of the shelters who move out but may not be able to afford appliances for their new homes.

"What we’ll be using it for is to provide it to the clients, whether they’re in the shelter or some of our sites where we serve low-income," Beaty said.

The appliances haven't been donated yet, but the actual movement is expected to be done after the first of the year. Veteran volunteers from Freedom House will be helping with the work.

"Obviously during this time the need is great," Beaty said. "A fridge is something that people need … but if you’re low income or moving out of a shelter, you don’t necessarily have the money to buy a fridge or replace a fridge. This will allow us to be able to provide it to clients in need at no cost to them."