Sterling Services is a socially responsible organization. We are pleased to partner with our local community in Hamtramck, MI to help fill any gaps of service that the public sector may be unable to provide. Especially following the recession of 2008, Sterling Services is committed to identifying opportunities in the community where we can put our knowledge and skills to work.

Since 2009, Sterling Services partners each year in the Hamtramck Clean Sweep. When we began this endeavor, we invested $3,500 for equipment for use during the annual town-wide Clean Sweep, which is organized by the City of Hamtramck. Sterling personnel donate their time each year to this activity, participating alongside community residents. We continue to assist with the Clean Sweep each year and continue our outreach, loaning necessary tools to block clubs across the city to clean their community all year round.

Sterling Services subsided the Hamtramck Recycling Commission when its funding was cut off by the City of Hamtramck in 2012. We initially worked with residents of the community to staff a bin, paid for by Sterling Services, for a monthly recycling drop-off in downtown Hamtramck. This is very important to our culture of sustainability, since an average of 3.5 tons of recycled material is collected each month and saved from landfills. Sterling was able to transition Hamtramck Recycling LLC to providing operational support, removing Sterling Services from this responsibility. We have since implemented, coordinated, funded and executed recycling programs in two different Hamtramck Public Schools, and at the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.

Since 2013, Sterling Services has donated and delivered compost on an annual basis to a number of community gardens and farms in the greater Hamtramck community. Sterling also partners with the Garden Resource Program, helping to organize and manage a 16-bed, raised local community garden in Hamtramck. We work with the young resident of a local project to plant, water, weed, and harvest their gardens, teaching them about sustainability and healthy eating. All the produce harvested from this garden is enjoyed by the local community.

In 2014, Sterling began their Annual BBQ Block Party, featuring free food and drinks for the residents of the surrounding area of the facility. Sterling employees donate their time by serving over 400 meals to individuals from the neighborhood at the end of the summer.

Founding family member Jason Eddleston demonstrates the commitment of Sterling companies to spearheading recycling efforts in the community. He became part of the Hamtramck Recycling Commission in 2012, and has served as treasurer since 2013. Jason was responsible for the implementation of recycling programs at Hamtramck High School and Dickinson East in 2012, and is expanding the program to Dickinson West in 2016. He personally petitioned for approval for paper and plastic collection and recycling at this school.

In 2016, Sterling Services assisted Hatch Art with the purchase of Hamtramck Disneyland from the family of the late Dmytro Szylak. After noticing an article in the Hamtramck Review, Jason Eddleston worked with Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski and Hatch Art to assist in the purchase of the property. Eddleston, Majewski, and Hatch Art were able to obtain a 50-thousand dollar matching grant from a public spaces program through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The grant helped the group secure additional funding for the purchase, upkeep, and maintenance of the art installation which should be open back to the public in 2019.

One of Sterling’s strongest community partners is the Hamtramck Fire Department. In 2018, Sterling Services continued their long history of helping their neighbors by sponsoring a lane at the firehouse’s annual Haunted Fowling fundraiser. The company also donated items for the raffle and for door prizes. Sterling’s relationship with the department dates back to 1986 and they have been a part of this fundraiser for the past decade. In addition, in the summer of 2018, Sterling along with the Hamtramck Fire Department, Detroit Fire Department and Highland Park Fire Department completed a drill at Sterling’s facility to practice fighting potential problems together in the event of an accident.