2. Over 15,000 local students had an opportunity to give back to their community without having to leave school or buy anything new!
3. Meijer came on in a big way by awarding greenLockers a grant for $10,000 worth of school supplies. We will be adding those to our supplies this year!
4. My 3 year search for the perfect containers finally came to an end – thanks to the W.C. Redmon corporation.
5. Many people stepped up, and we were able to raise $8,000 in a little over 2 weeks in order to manufature 1,000 of these new containers for this next year.
6. We finished our new – fully High Definition – video on how greenLockers works
7. We moved into Marshall County in a big way thanks to the Leadership of Marshall County team!
8. Over 40 charities had the opportunity to get greenLockers supplies this year!
I received a letter in the mail from my grandparents the other day, Ruby and Kenny Bryant, that just embodied the spirit of this fundraising campaign. They are in their mid-90s, and don’t have much give, but they believed in the vision for helping empower students/schools/communities and reverse the culture of wasting that we see in so many of these places. They wrote that they wanted to give as much as they could, and so they challenged their Sunday school class to match their own contribution of $20,. . . . and so sure enough, the other folks in their class scrounged up the other $20 in change, etc… and I end up getting a check for $40 that I know people sacrificed something for. . . because they believed in the power that we all have to change the world. Do I still need several thousand dollars . . . sure (actually 3K). . . . and please. . . by all means give – but, an inspired gift really does lift the heart, and I am thankful!!
A few reminders:
We only have 2 days leftbefore we have to set our order. If you want to help schools go green, empower students, and help the underprivileged in our communities – all at NO COST to the schools OR the students.
Verandah Shoe Shop has jumped into our fundraising efforts by donating $1 from every sale to greenLockers. This offer only lasts until December 1st – so hurry up and go over there and buy some shoes!!!!
Verandah Shoe Shop | 1245 East University Drive | City Plaza | Granger | IN | 46530
Below is a part of their email that they sent out to their constituents – fantastic!!!
Greetings!
Even small efforts make huge impacts!
At the end of each school year, students throw away all of their school supplies from their lockers…in the trash!! greenLockers has come up with a way to collect all of these “leftovers” and recycle it so that other individuals can reuse these supplies rather than being so wasteful.
Buy yourself a new pair of boots or shoes at Verandah Shoe Shop before December 1st and we will donate $1 from each purchase to this amazing non-profit organization. Not only is greenLockers aiding on the local level, but also nationally and internationally. Ask your kids if they’ve heard about it at their schools.
Thanks in advance for any and all support for your local community!
Remember we have less than 2 weeks to raise at least $8,000 – can you help us get there? All of the money goes directly to helping students in our community!
So, I’ve been on a three year long search for the perfect container for the greenLockers program. Earlier this summer I was inspired by my son’s laundry hamper (I know. . . a bit strange, but stay with me), which I thought might be a template for the containers that we need.
Remember, there were many attributes that these containers needed to have:
1. Lite- so they could be shipped easily across the country, and could be carried by students of all ages
2. Big enough – so that they could hold a lot of materials
3. Very strong – so that they could take the rough nature of students in schools handling them, as well as the countless sharp objects, heavy books, etc… that are going to be tossed into them, and than dragged down to the sorting area.
4. Noticeable – they need to be able to catch students attention, and yet NOT LOOK LIKE A TRASHCAN or even a regular recycling container.
5. Collapseable – so that they can be easily stored in smaller spaces, as well as to help with shipping
6. Capable of having printed logos on it – not only for greenLockers but for a corporate sponsor
7. Last but not least. . . Cheap- this is a big one for obviously reasons – we wanted it to be below $10 a piece.
Getting all of these was a tremendous feat, which is why we are so excited to show you.
This container is lime green, made out of 600D outdoor canvas, weighs around 2lbs, can hold over 80 lbs, should last 8-10 years, capable of 2 full color logos printed right into the canvas itself, can flatten to only 3 inches tall. . . . . oh, and all that for around $8 (our maufacturer has really helped us out on this!!!)
** now we are just trying to raise AT LEAST $8,000 so that we can order them for this next year. Orders are due on Decemeber 1st – 3 weeks!!! We are also loooking for corporate sponsors for the logo on the other side – click DONATE NOW if interested! All donations are tax-deductible!
Here at greenLockers we are very grateful for the schools we partner with. It is an empowering experience to see the student organizations in each school take hold of the greenLockers program and make it their own. I had the opportunity to work in a few schools with the students to help collect and sort the supplies. Many young people came out to help and truly demonstrated great leadership and maturity. We decided to designate certain areas for different school items and let the students take their own greenLockers tub and sort the items. A few students stepped up and took leadership deciding where to put which items and, we allowed them to make the decision on the quality of the item donated. I asked a few students how they liked helping and the most common response was how they knew for certain they were making a difference in the local community and that was pretty cool to them. A few students had helped out in previous years and came out again showing sincerity in their time and how important the project was to them. Thanks again to all the students, adult volunteers, and schools that helped out in this year’s greenLockers drive. You are making a difference in the lives of countless children and are helping to secure a brighter future.
greenLockers has had a great amount of success this school year thanks to 34 different schools donating in our local area. Everything from backpacks, binders, and lunch boxes to sweat shirts, shoes, and textbooks has been collected and sorted through. We have spent countless hours to make sure that children locally, nationally, and across the world will have a better start to life by having the clothing and school supplies they need to be successful and fully equipped. These 34 different schools should be very proud at the work they have done. With their help we have collected over 16,000 pounds of supplies to redistribute to others. What a tremendous job! Friday June 25 is the start of distribution days. Non profits can register on the website, greenlockers.org, then start arriving at the warehouse at 9:00 am. Distribution ends at 3:00pm and will continue Saturday June 26 with the same hours of 9:00 am to 3:00pm. Thanks to everyone who has helped by donating, sorting, and collecting. You are helping to change the future of countless children.
A great thanks to Bethel College in all their efforts in assisting greenLockers in both donating and collecting new and slightly used school supplies. There was a tremendous amount of items this year, more than doubling last years number. After three different days of collections we filled around 82 bins full of supplies and clothing. Outstanding! We really got the truck full during pick up. To see more images check out our Photobucket.
My name is Adam Weaver, I am now a senior Business Administration Major, Marketing Minor, here at Bethel College. I have to wonderful oppurtunity to work along side founder Ted Bryant at greenLockers, as his intern. This internship is allowing me the chance to practice my marketing skills, and help out countless of families and children locally, nationaly, and across the world. I am doing this internship free of charge, and couldn’t be more excited about it. The life lessons and business skills, along with the chance to make a difference in the lives of others is worth every minute I put into greenLockers. I look forward to my internship with greenLockers, as well as the future of all those lives we touch.
Wow – what a year it was last year, and I know I have a post just a few down giving some of the details of the year, but I thought a video recap would be nice. It all started with the county-wide effort to get as many old recycling bins as possible. These 1300 containers were all washed by hand by the Granger Student Ministries missions group from Granger Community Church - THANK YOU!!! We put decals on all of them, and then it was off to the 17 schools (including one in New York) to collect the materials. Over 9000lbs of sorted supplies were gathered and organized for distribution at our warehouse. We partnered with over 30 local non-profit agencies to distribute the supplies to students in need, with some remaining supplies going to India, Mexico, and Columbia. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE HELP OF MANY VOLUNTEERS, and if you are one of the many that helped out with greenLockers in 2009 – please accept my deepest gratitude for your efforts. Enjoy the video and check out the “get involved link” to find out how you can be a part of the project this year!!
We are now available to be in schools from Elementary schools through college – check out How It Works section on the bottom of the home pageand please email meif you would like your school to be a part of the project – looking forward to partnering with you in 2010.
I just wanted to share with everyone that we recieved news a few nights ago that greenLockers materials have made it down to a village just south of Bogota, Columbia. I am posting the email:
“I [the author of the email] went down with one other person and we lived in Los Altos de la Florida, Colombia (just south of Bogota). The community is mostly internally displaced people and most people have been living there for 10-18 years. Even though they are very close to Bogota (that has 8 million+ people) they do not have running water, sewer system, or a good education system. Some are able to go to school but most do not.
During our stay, we each lived with a family and taught every morning in the “library” (which also doubled as a garage for a community truck). We organized 70 children from a few hours every morning and they ranged from 1 year to 14 years old. The picture of the Christmas tree is filled with ornaments we made one day. They wrote lots of letters, made Christmas drawings, copied the alphabet & numbers, and did a few math problems. It was a wonderful experience and I am yearning to go back and teach! The picture of the three adults is myself, Ross (whom I traveled with) and Norma. Norma founded Coda a Coda and helped set up our stay in the community. Thank you so much for everything you do and all the school supplies greenLockers collected—it is much needed! The kids loved it!!”
Here are some pictures
Here are some of the kids that received greenLockers supplies singing Jingle Bells – they sound GREAT!!!
This is great!! I LOVE getting stories like this – keep them coming in!
Equipping students. . . moving the world forward. . . .
The joys of not ever knowing how something will turn out is always nerve racking for me, but also knowing that God is always working with you and being on your side is the best feeling of all time! The distribution day was yet very helpful to me to understand what it is like to run a business by yourself. I had a great experience being able to communicate with local organizations, give a helping hand with moving supplies to the vehicles, and got the opportunity to get interviewed by ABC news. I would like to share a personal story that touched my heart while I was working. A young lady Amanda Green from Volinia Outcome School came and the first thing she started to do was tear up when I explained the warehouse tour to her. Her story with the school is kids whose parents are in jail or getting ready to appear in court and the kids are in trouble also and no one to teach them. There is about 75 kids that go to this dirt road, 1 school hallway with only 5 teachers. She said that last year they all had no supplies and the 5 teachers had to use their pocket money to supply all them. Wow how hard, especially when they don’t make a lot of money anyways for teaching. She was so happy and thankful to hear about greenLockers and how much of a blessing it was for her to be here. She was also pregnant and suffering in the heat at the warehouse. I kindly helped her out finding her folders, notebooks, and getting ALL the loose leaf paper together for her in the boxes while she went through the novels. God did such a breath taking moment for me and I just realized how amazing this young pregnant lady was for loving her job even through it’s with kids that don’t ever was to learn or be at school. She has been there 6 years and never wasn’t to leave she claims. I helped her put all the boxes into her car and gave her a big hug and told her how great of a person she was. When she took off all I could say out loud was “God you are so awesome and amazing”! I honestly said it about 6-7 times around the warehouse.
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