Companies across the country are not letting American-made material go to waste.聽The Ford auto plant in Dearborn, Michigan, is donating more than $100,000 worth of leather scraps discarded from car seats and giving them to local small businesses in Detroit. Detroit non-profit Mend On The Move, which employs women survivors of abuse, is the recipient of some recycled leather and founder Joanne Ewald said it makes all the difference. 鈥淗aving this leather donated to us … it鈥檚 so huge,鈥� Ewald said. 鈥淚t is opening opportunities for us to create pieces that we have never done before.鈥�
Mend On The Move empowers survivors of abuse to create and sell things like earrings, ornaments and more, all made from the used auto parts and salvaged car seat leather.聽Since the pandemic began, the company said it has been able to hire two new employees. Employee Jessica Canupp said that when customers buy from Mend On The Move, they鈥檙e not only supporting small businesses, but also people.聽鈥淵ou are supporting people who are in need right now during the pandemic and local businesses,鈥� Canupp told ABC News.
Another Detroit-based company, Pingree Detroit, also benefits from the recycled Ford leather. The team of eight co-owners transforms the leather into wallets, bags and more.聽鈥淲e鈥檙e also honored to work alongside Ford to give these underutilized materials new life,鈥� co-owner Nathaniel Crawford II told ABC News.