[StBernard] Oscoda Plastics Donates Flooring to Community Center of St Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Oscoda, Michigan – May 14, 2009 – Oscoda Plastics®, Inc., the
manufacturer ofPROTECT-ALL® Commercial Flooring, has donated over
1,500 square feet of interlocking tiles to the Community Center of St.
Bernard located in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. The flooring for the
new laundry facility was installed by volunteers from the Cudd
Memorial Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit St. Bernard Parish where 93%
of homes were rated as “severely damaged” or “destroyed,” and almost
four years later, the population is only about half of what it was
pre-Katrina. This is also the site of the Murphy Oil spill, the
largest domestic residential oil spill in U.S. history. 

The Community Center in St. Bernard Parish is located directly east of
New Orleans’ lower Ninth Ward. The Community Center is dedicated to
empowering families who are still struggling to rebuild by providing
them with local access to essential recovery resources including
canned food, clothing, hot meals, medical care, legal aid, internet
access and public phones.

 “We are grateful to Oscoda Plastics for their generous donation which
will enable us to expand our facilities so that we will not have to
limit the amount of assistance we give, or begin turning families
away,” said Iray Nabatoff, Executive Director of the Community Center
of St. Bernard. “The need for these basic services is growing as the
economy continues to worsen, with the number of clients who use our
food pantry increasing by 18% during the first three months of 2009.”

During the renovation of the Community Center, environmental
responsibility was taken into account. PROTECT-ALL is manufactured
from 100% pre-consumer recycled vinyl. Annually, over six million
pounds of vinyl waste is recycled into PROTECT-ALL and kept out of the
nation’s landfills. Also, all of the paint used during renovation came
from The Green Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
promoting environmental sustainability in New Orleans. 

“We were inspired by the story of Iray and are excited that we could
help the community of St. Bernard,” said John Rouse, Oscoda Plastics
National Sales Manager. “Our interlocking tiles are the perfect
application for their laundry facility and we feel good to know that
we are helping the residents come back to some sort of normalcy.”

Manufactured in Oscoda, Michigan by Oscoda Plastics, Inc., PROTECT-ALL
Commercial Flooring derives its durability and slip-resistance from
the specialized thermal fusion process that blends remnant
industrial-strength vinyl together into one monolithic piece. Oscoda
Plastics, Inc. is a fast-growing manufacturer specializing in the
production of environmentally-friendly building products that are used
extensively in commercial kitchens, athletic facilities, veterinary
offices, and many other flooring applications. For more information,
please contact John Rouse at 800-544-9538 or visit
www.oscodaplastics.com