A full-sized refrigerator, a large fan, a barbecue pit and metal shelving once used at a mapping agency were among the items loaded in a trailer on a recent weekday morning at Mary Mother of the Church in south St. Louis County.

Individually, the items are only worth about 10 cents a pound. But with an overflowing 2,500 pounds strapped into the trailer, collectively the load was expected to fetch about $250 at the scrap yard.

Every dollar will go back to the St. Vincent de Paul conference at Mary Mother of the Church to help neighbors in need. And along the way, their efforts are doing some good for the environment, too, said volunteer Dick Drury.

Since its beginnings 14 years ago, the scrap metal ministry has raised more than $194,000 for the St. Vincent de Paul conference at Mary Mother of the Church. Volunteers anticipate that they will hit $200,000 by the end of the year. The majority of the funding goes toward rent and utilities for people in need; other common expenses include money for car repairs and food. The conference also supports a food pantry at the parish.

“It’s a smattering, depending on the neighbor’s needs,” Drury said. “But that’s what this is all about — it’s what we can do for the neighbors. And the offshoot is we can help the environment at the same time.”

Mary Mother of the Church parishioner Dan Schoenekase started the scrap metal recycling ministry in 2009. He used his four-cylinder Ford Ranger truck to pick up old appliances, lawn mowers, cabinets and anything else made of metal that people were looking to discard. He carefully stripped the metals from the items and hauled them to a local recycler.

“I had always taken stuff for recycling, so I thought this would be a good money-maker for St. Vincent de Paul,” he said. “My thought was if I could get as much as $5,000, I’d feel great, like I achieved something. I never had any idea that it would be what it is today.”

Over the years, the group of volunteers has grown to 14 men, who regularly sort through the donations and extract any semi-precious metals, such as copper, brass, aluminum and sterling silver. An Eagle Scout built a wooden receptacle several years ago to hold trash bins for donated aluminum cans.

Schoenekase has since retired the Ranger, and a bigger truck and trailer donated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society now does the majority of the heavy lifting. Volunteers are doing fewer pickups these days and instead ask people to drop off their donations at the parish.

Several unusual items have been donated over the years, including a tanning bed, dental braces, three prosthetic legs (made by a German manufacturer and worth about $10,000), a roadside lamp post, a pinball machine, a pull-slot candy vending machine and a gold mining sluice box (worth $75). A woman’s pendant watch donated several years ago fetched about $400 in gold.

Appliances that are still in working condition are spared from recycling and donated to others in need, through relationships with other conferences. A washer and dryer recently was waiting to be picked up and taken to a mother in need, who is being helped through the society’s Pregnancy Care Program. Used bikes are given to St. Louis BWorks, a nonprofit organization that accepts donated bikes to benefit local children.

Bob Taylor stood over a table in the garage, his shirt soaked with sweat from the sweltering heat, as he took apart an old electrical box. For nearly eight years, Taylor has made it his duty to show up every Monday morning, spending several hours sorting through donations and stripping out what can be recycled.

“These are my bins — this is regular metal, this is brass, that is copper and this is aluminum,” Taylor said as he gave a tour of the workbench. “That’s my job, to separate it all. Everything that is put in this table needs to be taken apart.”

Drury said that while he’s not very handy, he enjoys being part of a ministry that gives back to the community.

“If you can find something that makes you happy while you help your neighbor, to me that’s the definition of happiness,” Drury said.

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>> How to donate

Metal items may be donated anytime at Mary Mother of the Church, 5833 Kerth Road in south St. Louis County. Donations should be placed adjacent to the 12-foot trailer in the driveway, next to the white annex house. Televisions and tires will not be accepted.

For more information or if you are unable to deliver the metal and live in the south St. Louis County area, call (314) 374-4680.