Nevada

Ames Bottle and Can continues monthly donations, cuts check for Nevada Community Cupboard

Published

2 years ago

January 5, 2024

Press Room

Ames Bottle and Can continues monthly donations, cuts check for Nevada Community Cupboard

A generous donation will help a Nevada nonprofit fight food insecurity.

Ames Bottle and Can has donated monthly to local nonprofits for nearly three years, giving away more than $11,000.

Their most recent donation was a $1,100 check to Nevada Community Cupboard on Tuesday, an organization that provides food and some personal items to Story County residents in need.

Ames Bottle and Can donates to a specific nonprofit organization each month, using money from recycling and residential donations to help fund the initiative. The Community Cupboard was chosen as December’s recipient.

The Community Cupboard and the Redemption Center connected thanks to the vision of ABC employee Ron Brodie. His mother serves on the Nevada Community Cupboard’s board of directors.

Brodie saw a group in need and acted, noting how food can often be scarce during the coldest part of the year.

“I knew the winter months are harder to get food donations for the cupboard,” Brodie said. “When COVID-19 started, there was an influx in families coming for food and it just hasn’t gone back down after that point.”

More: New City of Ames recycling location has successful first month

Ames Bottle and Can seeks to serve its community

ABC opened on Dec. 1, 2022 at 5820 Lincoln Way, Suite 106. Co-owners Burger and Jay Vaughn were inspired by the changes to Iowa’s bottle bill, which increased handling fees for redemption centers. They also noticed that Ames lacked a redemption center, a perfect opportunity to support their home county.

“We have lived in Story County our entire lives,” Vaughn said. “We want to make sure that we’re giving back to Story County as a whole, the county that helped raise us.”

Locals can recycle cans and bottles at the center, where ABC sorts and distributes them to recycling companies. Burger said some people simply want to recycle their bottles and cans and don’t care about the monetary reward, which helps pad the donation fund.

“Our customers who come in and don’t care about getting the payment themselves and just want to see their cans recycled can donate to the monthly non-profit,” Burger said. “We keep a running total of how many cans and bottles have been donated over the course of that month, then write a check at the end of the month.”

The nonprofit of the month program started when the redemption center opened and has quickly surpassed $11,200 in donations.

“We were service-oriented from the beginning, so (the program) kind of went hand in hand with that,” Burger said. “There are so many great organizations in the area; this is a way that we could give back to them.”

ABC has already selected the nonprofits it will donate to in 2024, which includes the Ames Elementary PTO, the Ames History Museum, Friends of the Ledges, Story County Theatre Company and several other organizations in Boone, Story and Polk County.

ABC is taking donation applications for 2025 now.

More: What’s being built in Ames in 2024? From CYTown to the Fitch Aquatic Center

Community cupboard battles high grocery prices

Located at 1110 11th Street, Nevada Community Cupboard has served rural Story County for more than 30 years. The board of directors is comprised of one member from each of Nevada’s churches, while the facility itself is open from 10-11:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

The nonprofit aims to end hunger by welcoming any resident of Story County.

“We’re a community cupboard for people in need of groceries,” Board Member Kenzie Alderson said. “We’re not going to provide it all, but we help with those things.”

The nonprofit uses its in-house funds and donations to purchase groceries through the Food Bank of Iowa.

The Community Cupboard has noticed an uptick in residential traffic as grocery prices have risen in recent years. Board member Teresa Haaland said prices rose when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020 and haven’t decreased since, motivating the shelter to provide more for families in need.

She’s appreciative of Ames Bottle and Can’s genoristy, knowing the $1,100 will help feed several local families.

“Because of the increase of grocery prices, we really need (ABC’s donation) because we’ve got an increase in families,” Haaland said. “We used to give visitors a gift card from Fareway for $7 every four weeks they came, but because of the lack of being able to get things like eggs and milk we upped it to $10.”

Nevada Community Cupboard’s role has only increased since the pandemic, and volunteers are dedicated to keep one of the few local food pantries in operation.

Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.

Source link

Related Topics:ames and county donating donations Donations and Donating Featured Ia Recycling story Story County

Click to comment

Nevada

Travel Nevada Presents The Neon in Nature Series, Featuring Artwork by DARIUSTWIN, at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, January 15 – April 6, 2026

Published

10 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Travel Nevada Presents The Neon in Nature Series, Featuring Artwork by DARIUSTWIN, at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, January 15 – April 6, 2026

Nevada Division of Tourism

Unique exhibition marks DARIUSTWIN’s first museum show in the U.S.

LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESS Newswire / January 8, 2026 / Travel Nevada is proud to present The Neon in Nature Series, which features artwork by light painting photographer and animator Darren Pearson (better known as DARIUSTWIN)at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, beginning January 15, 2026. The exhibition is DARIUSTWIN’s first U.S. museum show. To celebrate the exhibition opening, Travel Nevada will pay admission fees for the first 200 guests to arrive directly at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

Created exclusively in Nevada, The Neon in Nature Series captures just some of the stunning landscapes and striking night skies that you’ll find in Nevada when you get a little out there – all juxtaposed with DARIUSTWIN’s signature light paintings infused with and inspired by Nevada character (and characters). The exhibition will inspire museum guests to visit the Nevada ghost towns, state parks, historical landmarks, and more that take center stage in this unique, vibrant, and whimsical exhibition.

“Nevada’s diverse surroundings and dark night skies provided an ideal backdrop to compose this series,” said DARIUSTWIN. “I’m grateful to the Travel Nevada team for commissioning the work and to the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, for housing my very first museum exhibition in the country. I’m hopeful that it will encourage museum guests to travel throughout Nevada, which I found was so rich in history and ripe with adventure opportunities.”

“When the Travel Nevada team first saw DARIUSTWIN’s work, we immediately knew that a partnership with him would inspire people to get a little out there in the state. The Neon in Nature Series is a creative take on what makes Nevada special,” said Rafael Villanueva, chief executive officer of Travel Nevada. “Additionally, we’re thrilled that this exhibition will be housed in the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. We share a mission with the museum to enhance the quality of life for Nevada’s visitors and residents, and what better place to host The Neon in Nature series than a city whose history is intertwined with neon?”

The Neon in Nature Series, Presented by Travel Nevada will be on view at the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas through April 6, 2026.

“The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas is delighted to host this art- and Nevada-focused installation by DARIUSTWIN,” said Hollis J. Gillespie, director of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. “The Neon in Nature Series exemplifies our mission of educating the public about the history and natural history of the state, and it does so in an electrifying way. We look forward to sharing it with our visitors.”

EDITORS:  Select high-resolution images from The Neon in Nature Series, Presented by Travel Nevada are available here. Photo credit for all images: “Photo courtesy of Travel Nevada/DARIUSTWIN. ©️ 2024 DARIUSTWIN.”

###

About Travel Nevada

The heart of Nevada shines through Travel Nevada, an organization focused on sharing the experiences, landmarks and living legends that make the Silver State a one-of-a-kind destination. Through community collaborations and strategic partnerships, we aim to connect with both locals and visitors alike, showcasing the sometimes-surprising, always-exciting treasures that keep people coming to Nevada. It’s theirs to explore-and ours to safekeep, from preserving our wild-at-heart way of life to our wide-open spaces. For more information, visit TravelNevada.com.

About the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas

Founded in 1982, the mission of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, serves to educate a diverse public about the history and natural history of Nevada. The museum collects, preserves, exhibits, and disseminates material that contributes to an understanding and appreciation of the state. For more information, visit https://www.lasvegasnvmuseum.org/

About DARIUSTWIN

Darren Pearson, known as DARIUSTWIN, is a light painting photographer and animator whose glowing creations have illuminated landscapes around the world. Using long-exposure photography and custom crafted LED lights, Darren “paints” with light in real time, creating skeletal figures, dinosaurs, aliens, and fantastical characters that exist for only a moment before disappearing into the night. His work has been featured by National Geographic, Intel, Honda, and Apple, among others.

Based in Southern California, Darren has been creating light paintings for more than a decade, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, one exposure at a time. See more at dariustwin.com and follow @dariustwin.

Contact:
Tracie Barnthouse, Chief Communications Officer
tbarnthouse@travelnevada.com; 775-624-0618

SOURCE: Nevada Division of Tourism

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. XPRMedia and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact pressreleases@xpr.media

Source link

Nevada

Nevada gets thrilling overtime win against Wyoming at home 70-60

Published

22 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Nevada gets thrilling overtime win against Wyoming at home 70-60

RENO, Nev. (Nevada Athletics) – Nevada Women’s Basketball won its second straight game Wednesday night, getting a thrilling 70-60 overtime win against Wyoming at Lawlor Events Center.

Reigning Old Trapper Mountain West Freshman of the Week Skylar Durley led the Pack (6-9, 2-3 MW) in scoring with 18 points and led both teams in rebounds with a career high 14, recording her first double-double of her career.

Ahrray Young went 5-for-10 from the field for 11 points to go with eight boards.

Nevada’s resilience in the latter part of the fourth, which was punctuated by a key block from Young, forced the game into overtime.

The Pack’s shutdown defense held Wyoming (4-10, 1-4 MW) at bay in the final five, only allowing one point off of a free throw.

On the other end, the offense of Nevada went on a 6-0 run and shot 83.3 percent from the field.

Nevada outscored Wyoming 11-1 and held the Cowgirls without a field goal in OT.

The Pack opened regulation in perfect fashion, shooting a 7-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from three and 2-for-2 from the line in the first five minutes of action.

Nevada had a 10-0 run that was capitalized by holding Wyoming to a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought.

Through the first quarter, Nevada shot 64.3 percent and remained perfect from both deep and free throws.

Nevada’s hot start simmered in the second, only getting six points and closing the quarter on a field goal drought of just under four minutes.

Meanwhile, Wyoming’s shooting improved from the first, closing the gap to two.

Despite the slower quarter, Nevada carried its lead into the second half, 45-41.

The third quarter was nearly even, Nevada only shooting slightly better and outscoring Wyoming, 15-14.

The game stayed close through the fourth with three ties and four lead changes, leading to extra time.

As a team, the Pack outrebounded the Cowgirls, 40-28, and had 24 bench points to their six.

Nevada will hit the road and look to even its conference record as it faces New Mexico Saturday at 12 p.m.

Source link

Nevada

Centennial vs. Liberty: Watch Nevada girls high school basketball showdown live

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Centennial vs. Liberty: Watch Nevada girls high school basketball showdown live

If you purchase a product through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.

The defending 5A state champion Centennial Bulldogs (7-3) open conference play with a challenging road test Wednesday night when they travel to Henderson to face the Liberty Patriots (10-7) in a Nevada 5A Southern basketball clash.

Coach Karen Weitz’s Bulldogs, seeking their second consecutive state title, will rely on their formidable frontcourt duo of forwards Nation Williams and Inieye Oruh, complemented by standout guard Sanai Branch. They will face a Patriots squad that has shown marked improvement under head coach Lorenzo Jarvis, powered by senior leaders Samantha Chesnut and Kiana Harworth alongside junior standout Neviah Nick.

With Liberty’s home court advantage potentially neutralizing Centennial’s championship pedigree, this early conference matchup could set the tone for both teams’ title aspirations in the competitive 5A Southern division.

Opening tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, January 7 with a live TV broadcast on NFHS Network.

• WATCH: Centennial vs. Liberty basketball is livestreaming on NFHS Network

High school basketball on NFHS Network

Watch high school sports anywhere from wherever you are.

Watch now