NAPO Leads the Charge to Get Organized During GO Month
2010 GO Month Press Releases
NAPO’s fifth annual Get Organized Month was a huge success, garnering nationwide press coverage in a variety of news outlets! NAPO educated the public through a variety of Get Organized programs, including ask the organizer panels, clutter workshops, and recycling and collection events. NAPO spread the word about the benefits of getting organized and hiring a professional organizer through numerous newspaper articles, radio interviews, and television segments.
Articles about GO Month were picked up by newspapers and websites nationwide, including:
In addition to media coverage, NAPO members offered a variety of organizing events—many focused on nonprofit groups—during Get Organized Month, including:
- On Jan. 21, a group of professional organizers from Kansas City assisted Kansas City Hospice House in reorganizing its space.
Planning/promotion: A $250 contribution from Hospice House and donations from professional organizers helped fund this outreach, which took 10 organizers roughly 60 hours to plan. An article with photos will be submitted to the Hospice House newsletter.
LEFT to RIGHT: Sue West, Space4U, llc, Amherst NH; Patti Dill, Patti's "Clean Your Space," Nashua, NH; Helene Parenteau, Organizing Specialists, Salem, NH; Lisa Brylczyk, Organizing Czyk, Fremont, NH; Lorraine Falcone, Naturally Organized, Hudson, NH; Linda B. Hutchinson, LBH Professional Services & Consulting, Manchester, NH; Patricia Sangillo, The Clutter Whisperer, llc, Contoocook, NH; Kelly Santos, Xtra Hands, Lowell, MA; Back row, far right, two individuals: left to right, Sandy Rhee, Organization Guru; Elizabeth Early Sheehan, Organizational Solutions, Deering, NH
- The NAPO-Greater Manchester, NH Chapter helped the Anne-Marie House achieve a more organized space. The Anne-Marie House serves as a homeless shelter and provides services and support to those less fortunate.
Planning/promotion: The Milford Rotary Club donated shelves and bins. The chapter submitted press releases to NAPO, 30 local radio, TV, and newspapers and to several online event listings sites pre- and post-event. Various event listings and an article in the Area News Group newspaper highlighted the work of the ten professional organizers.
- Professional organizers from Long Island, N.Y. helped the Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center in Wyandanch become better organized. A December 2007 fire had destroyed the center’s food and clothing departments, resulting in those areas being housed in much smaller, temporary trailers. NAPO members spent two days sorting clothes into appropriate categories and hanging clothing to make it more accessible.
Planning/promotion: There were no costs involved, so there were no budgetary considerations, or pre-event promotion. Afterward, press releases were e-mailed to Long Island newspapers.
Left to right: Alix Lieberman, Pat Botter, Jayne Schoenbrun, Carla Mazzuchelli and Alice Price
Left to right: Marguerite Barone, Joan Essex, Cynthia Braun, Noelle Campbell (in pink), Carla Mazzuchelli and Jayne Schoenbrun
Several M.D. Anderson employees cluster around the Heritage Makers booth at the annual Organizing Expo.
- The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center held several events marking GO Month. Janice Marie Simon, M.D. Anderson’s in-house professional organizer coordinated the events, which included an Organizing Expo. A Personal Computer Recycling Day on Jan. 24 netted nearly five tons of computers and computer equipment. Other GO Month events included Simon’s presentation of “Organizing at home” for a standing-room-only crowd and professional organizer Ellen Delap’s interactive discussion, “Organizing your student and children.”
Planning/promotion: The six months of preparation paid off as more than 450 people visited the Organizing Expo. Simon used her $600 budget to send out fliers. Items were also posted on the center’s internal Channel 20 station. Information was printed in the center’s employee and faculty newsletters.
Seated: Patty Ribera, Dale Manno, Susanne Phelps, Lori Abou
Standing: Jennifer Alman, Suzy Wilkoff, Sheila Zayas, Gail Biers,
Bonnie Mashiach, Gayle Jacobs, Kelly Barber, Cristina Maria Lloyd,
Tonya Paulette, Michelle Katzman, Connie Kippycash and Tracy Colleran
- The NAPO-South Florida Chapter worked with Daily Bread Food Bank to better organize their offices.
Planning/promotion: The 16 professional organizers who volunteered spent several weeks prior to the Jan. 14 event distributing press releases to local media. The event was covered on the food bank’s website, and on Yourhub.com.
From NAPO-Ohio. Reorganization of the Waste Not Center.
L-R front: Andrea Smith, Julie Riber (chapter President), Melanie Dennis
L-R back: Karen Kruzan, Martha Clouse, Deb Heimann, Ellen Limes, Miriam
Bogard, Birdie Brennan
- The NAPO-Ohio Chapter reorganized Columbus’ Waste Not Center. The nonprofit center collects items people no longer need and makes them available to teachers, artists and nonprofit groups. The organizers made the inventory more orderly by departmentalizing in-stock goods. Signage was added to help find a home for new arrivals.
Planning/promotion: The group spent roughly 30 minutes and $100 planning the project. But, after its completion, the Waste Not Center held a grand re-opening and the public was invited. NAPO members were featured on the local Fox TV morning show.
- The NAPO-Washington, D.C. Metro Chapter organized the offices of 40Plus, a member agency of the United Way, to allow for a new interview area and a rearranged library. The 14 NAPO volunteers also consolidated supplies and helped 40Plus to find equipment they did not realize that they had.
Library Before
Library After
NAPO-Washington, DC Metro Volunteers (From left starting with bottom row): Heather Cocozza, Victoria Robinson, Amy Goldberg-Cutler, Theresa McDonald, Sandee Merrigan, Alisa Levy, Wendy Glover, Terri Fischer, and Xan Koneff volunteered their time on Jan. 25 to organize the offices of 40Plus of Washington D.C.
- About 115 cars stopped by NAPO-Austin Chapter’s Clear Your Clutter Day to drop off unwanted items for free-of-charge disposal. Sponsors assisted in recycling, donating or repurposing items. Visitors received information packets and randomly selected cars won prizes.
Planning/promotion: The chapter spent several months and $100 preparing for the event, which generated coverage on two local TV stations, as well as in community calendars and newsletters.
- NAPO member Sharon Testo of Stockton, Calif., helped to organize the Women’s Center, a sexual assault services storage closet in San Joaquin County. The center has a storage closet that holds clothing, footwear, and toiletry items which are given to rape victims. Testo remodeled, repainted, and renovated the closet into a functioning workspace by installing a customized closet system. She also created a sorting zone and a storage zone and organized, labeled, and shelved supplies. She also created an inventory system.
Planning/promotion: Testo spent six weeks planning for the project, and through individual sponsors, a contractor, and Home Depot, she was able to complete the project with a $725 budget.
Camp Erdman desk before
This photo shows the wall before the shelving was installed
by 1Hot Garage & Systemcenter.
- A group of professional organizers from the Hawaii Association of Professional Organizers carried out a one-day office makeover at Camp Erdman as part of Get Organized Month.
Planning/promotion: The organizers spent several months planning for the organizing project, which was carried out as a contest. The group sent press releases and announcements to several nonprofit associations. The organizers were soon inundated with applications and photos from groups looking for organizing assistance. The organizers then narrowed the selections down to nonprofit associations that help kids. Soon after, Camp Erdman was chosen as the winner of the office makeover.
Camp Erdman storage after
NAPO members removed everything from this storage closet. When it was replaced, it was then labeled. Smaller items were contained in clear plastic boxes.
Camp Erdman after
Sondra Allen of 1Hot Garage, Morgan Casement, Camp Erdman Conference Director, & Stephan Edwards of Systemcenter, Inc. show off Camp Erdman following a GO Month event in January 2009. 1Hot Garage & Systemcenter donated and installed the shelving
(From left) Karen Simon, Ellyn Sollars, Denise Mazzanti, Morgan Casement, Gina ONeill, Suzanne Acker, Andres Harnisch pose for a picture following a GO Month organizing event in January 2009 at Camp Erdman. (NAPO members are: Karen, Ellyn, Denise & Nancy).
- The brainchild of NAPO-Richmond Past President and GO Month chair Katherine Lawrence of Space Matters, GO Month 2009 focused on NAPO members working side by side with corporate sponsors (associate members) to promote the benefits of getting and staying organized. Professional organizers assumed the roles of project managers, and Associate Members could become corporate sponsors at the silver or gold level for five organizing projects held during January.
One of these projects was a classroom makeover for the children and teachers at the Youth Life Foundation of Richmond Delmont Center. Chapter Associate Member Cathy Turner (Closet Factory) collaborated with NAPO organizers Cathy LeHew (Space Matters of Norfolk), Kathy Jenkins (Come To Order), and Christine Lynn (Simple Living), to make this project a huge success.
Planning/promotion: The Classroom Makeover began with "NAPO in the Schools" organizational lessons from Kathy Jenkins; the children were attentive, appreciative and eager to learn. Next, nine Closet Factory volunteers, including owners Theresa and Bryan Mueller, donated their time and products for the incredible makeover. Closet Factory designed and installed lockers, cabinets and shelves for 31 at-risk children in two classrooms. Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony and observing the smiles on the faces of the children the first time they entered their renovated space were proof of this project’s huge impact on at-risk children in the community.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of NAPO marked Get Organized Month by collecting donations for hurricane survivors in Galveston, Texas on Jan. 31, 2009. By partnering with The Container Store and I.M.S. relocation, NAPO-DFW motivated its members and local volunteers to help collect, sort and pack donations that filled one-half of an 18-wheeler.