Page 24 October 2015 By Ava Lasiewski PlanetDonate is a company brought to the United States by Doug Kiggins, an Arcadia resident who saw an opportunity to change the way clothing donations work. According to their website, PlanetDonate is a planet-friendly clothing collection and recycling company that helps organizations raise money through the collection of unwanted clothing and shoes, shipping them to people who need them around the world. To further the mission of his company, Kiggins recently created a campaign through PlanetDonate titled Give a Shirt . “Our goal is to establish a movement in the Phoenix metro area and potentially in neighboring cities and states. Give a Shirt is designed for companies that want to come together and collect textiles to benefit their charity of choice,” said Kiggins. “Not everyone can or will write a check for charity, but just about all people can or will clean out their closets and donate a bag of old clothes!” PlanetDonate began after Kiggins visited a conference in October 2013 in Washington, D.C. The conference promoted United States investments to foreign companies; he was there representing the Arizona Commerce Authority. During the conference, Kiggins met two men from Guatemala. He immediately approached the men because his son, Clay, had just visited Guatemala on an immersion trip and had returned with a new perspective on life. “My son stayed in an orphanage for five days with kids who had nothing but each other. He remarked how happy they were and how little they had.” After meeting the two Guatemalan men, Kiggins learned they were brothers who had started a remarkable business. “The brothers had started a business in Guatemala 14 years ago with no money,” said Kiggins. “They imported a container full of [Americans’] old clothes into Guatemala City and started selling the clothes.” Since the start of their company MegaPaca, the men have created 3,000 jobs, and now have 65 discount stores across Guatemala and Central America. Kiggins was interested in the two brothers’ business model, so he came back and started researching textile recycling. Every year between 70 and 80 percent of the clothes in the United States make their way to a landfill. Donation bins, according to Kiggins, help but do not solve the landfill problem. Many items, which people think will be unusable to others are thrown out, rather than donated. This is where Planet Donate steps in. Their use goes a step further than simply selling the clothing for profit or charity. According to Kiggins , the demand in lesser-developed countries for our discarded textiles is high. The number of jobs that can and have been created around recycling textiles as well as the industry’s use for the ground up fibers is great. Such fibers can be turned into carpet padding, seat/furniture padding, insulation, conversion to rags, made into other pieces of clothing and used in mattress production. Kiggins hopes to create awareness in the community and educate youth about recycling and reusing clothing and textiles. PlanetDonate hosts clothing drives at various schools, churches and businesses, and Kiggins teaches sustainability to boy scouts. “We believe in the importance of educating youth on the benefits and necessity of living sustainably. What it means to Reuse, reduce, and recycle,” said Kiggins. “I’m hopeful that just maybe we can help build environmentally conscience and charitable citizens.” Now working closely with MegaPaca, Kiggins has big plans for his company. “My hope for PlanetDonate is to continue what we are doing in Phoenix and take the message across the Southwest. Helping keep textiles out of landfills, create jobs, and to support my family along the way.” To find out more about PlanetDonate or to request a donation bin, go to planetdonate.org. PlanetDonate: The new way to recycle and raise funds From Doug and Lori Kiggins were inspired to start their business after their son’s trip to Guatemala.

All Faiths Welcome • Pre-K through Eighth Grade • Indexed Tuition Available • All Saints’ Episcopal Day School • 6300 North Central Avenue • Phoenix, Arizona 85012 • 602.274.4866 • www.aseds.org • www.facebook.com/PhoenixASEDS All Saints’ Episcopal Day School admits students of any race, color, or national origin. November 11 | December 09 | Januar y 13 Join Us For an Open House Educating Children Head to Soul Since 1963, All Saints’ Episcopal Day School has offered a top-tier education while encouraging students to realize their highest potential as lifelong learners, artists, athletes, and leaders of the future. Our teachers teach what they love. We employ 17 specialists in the areas of music, Spanish, physical education, band, art, religion, library, and technology. We also have a full time school counselor, a Learning Resource Coordinator, and Technology and Design Thinking Specialist. In recent history, 99% of our graduates were accepted to their first-choice high school. Come see why 90% of alumni respondents rate their overall satisfaction with All Saints’ as “high” or “very high.” — Independent Alumni Survey Page 25 October 2015 For Ann, giving back was also a part of recovery. “I think a lot of women go back to support the breast cancer organization. Maybe I didn’t have enough courage to go back and associate with breast cancer,” said Ann. “But to align with kids and green and growing and all of the people who had helped me… you have to pay it forward.” By Christina Surrano Ann Rodarte is a warm- hearted giver. One of eight girls born to Irish-Catholic parents, she and her husband, Lou, are working parents with three grown children and a daughter in her last year at Arcadia High School. A little over two years ago, a gray cloud enveloped their lives. Two weeks after attending the funeral for a friend, they had to tell their daughter that Ann had cancer. In the beginning, amidst the overwhelming onslaught of information that came, Ann simply wanted to know if she would survive. Then came the practical questions: Will my children be ok? What will happen if I don’t work? Will my insurance cover everything? And lastly, what will happen to me? Ann had stage 2 breast cancer. Treatment would entail chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and five weeks of daily radiation. The first round of chemotherapy was much worse than Ann had expected. “I can remember thinking this must be what it feels like when [death] is going to happen to someone.” Her daughter’s first day of high school was the day Ann had to shave her head. Ann recalled with pity and a chuckle, “Poor Reiley Rodarte ended up with two bald parents on her first day of high school.” She remembered the change that illness brought to their everyday lives. “We’re parents. We raise our kids. We work. We do all of the activities. We volunteer,” said Ann. “What happens to you when you have to give that up? That is so hard to give up.” There were circles of caregiving people who surrounded Ann and her family. First there were the medical experts. They broke down the information, helped take some of the fear away and administered treatment. Next came their family members who brought tender and meaningful gifts of comfort, family heritage, tradition and religious significance: an Irish wool blanket; holy water from Knock, Ireland; and Mass cards for Catholic services said for her. And then there was the Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center community. Lou and Ann had spent nine years developing close relationships and volunteering there while their daughter received her kindergarten through eighth-grade education. There were beautiful meals brought to them from school families, words of encouragement and gifts. Friends checked in with Lou. They asked Reiley how she was doing and took her out. Kindnesses came not just from friends, but also from mere acquaintances. People reached out and offered support to the whole family. “You want life. You want good stuff happening to you,” Ann said. “Every single piece of light that comes your way, every single kindness, goodness, generosity, it just raises you up…Medical treatments heal, but so do people.” After her last round of the yearlong course of chemotherapy (Ann is now in remission), Lou encouraged Ann to attend a ceremony at ANLC. It was about the tortoises their family donated a couple of years ago and their return to a new habitat. Since Ann had been away from the school for the year, it was an emotional reunion. It was at this event that she took the opportunity to ask what she could do to show her appreciation for all of the loving support. Ann and Lou had once been instrumental in keeping the school gardens alive and they also helped create and oversee the Chef in the Garden program at ANLC. This is a program in which local chefs generously give their time and materials to help the students prepare healthy snacks, often incorporating produce from the ANLC gardens. Even when Ann and Lou’s daughter moved on to high school three years ago, with no one to take their place as garden coordinators, they continued to help lead the program at ANLC. However, the year that Ann was fighting cancer, the gardens went fallow. They still had community volunteers willing to help, but without coordinators, not much happened. The principal answered Ann’s question of how she could show her appreciation for the support by asking her to come back and volunteer in the gardens. Ann explained her reply, “I said, ‘If this is what you need, then this is what I’ll do. I can do this for you. No problem.’” From life-threatening to life-giving, one mom pays it forward Volunteering at the ANLC garden is part of Ann’s world that was threatened by cancer.