This year, a beloved local resource for the DC area is celebrating 20 remarkable years in the community with a full calendar of exciting events.

Community Forklift is the DMV’s go-to marketplace for secondhand home and building materials. Since their founding in 2005, the nonprofit has prevented tons of reusable items from entering area landfills and instead redistributed them to the community at a low cost in their reuse warehouse, and for free to households with limited incomes, as well as to community groups. 

The nonprofit's next event—a garden pop-up at the reuse warehouse shop in Edmonston, Maryland (4671 Tanglewood Drive)—launches this weekend and will run from Friday through Sunday, April 11 through April 13. Community members will find deals on garden tools, pots, décor, and more. Community Forklift will also be hosting a seed giveaway and plant swap on Friday, April 11. People are encouraged to bring seeds, seedlings, cuttings, and plants (indoor and outdoor plants are welcome) to exchange with others.

Other events on the horizon include happy hour fundraisers at Denizens Brewing Co and metrobar; first Friday events with food and live music; a 20^th anniversary salvage soiree; and more. Visit the Community Forklift events page for more information.  

For 20 years, Community Forklift has been a place where those across the broader metro area have come to source salvaged materials and secondhand furniture or to sustainably donate stockpiled, surplus and gently used building materials to reduce waste and landfill use.

“Six hundred million tons of construction debris are sent to landfills annually in the United States alone," Community Forklift Executive Director Trey Davis explained. "Community Forklift sees this as an opportunity to redirect those materials and turn them into a community benefit. We connect supplies with people who can use them, and we diverted more than 200,000 items from landfills through our warehouse last year.”

By making donated building materials and home goods available to the public, Community Forklift gives residents, local businesses, and building professionals a place to give supplies a second life. Those supplies could be tile, cabinetry, furniture, lighting fixtures, appliances, or quirkier items, like a church altar reused as a kitchen island or a life-size equine statue.

There are many ways to support Community Forklift and to become connected to this amazing community. To learn more, visit the website here.