WOW! – there is a lot going on since the last time I updated. . . . and things are about to take-off!!!
Here are my top ten things that have happened in the last 2 weeks:
10. The decals to go onto the 1300 containers are a go. . . thanks to a sponsorship by Bethel College
9. We will be doing our first ever greenLockers – college edition this year: Notre Dame, and Bethel College are in!
8. Spoke at several youth groups in the area to do a couple more local drives for more recycling bins
7. Solidified a warehouse in Elkhart!
6. First round of emails to most of the schools have been sent out.
5. Vision casting with some area leaders about how greenLockers can help them. . . help others.
4. Started investigating federal grant opportunities.
3. Finished production on two new videos (thanks Ben!) - the intro on the Home tab, and the new International Promo one.
2. Received our first official wish list application form!
1. Realizing that over 25,000 students have the potential to be a part of this project this year!
BTW – there will be more frequent updates now that things have really started in motion – so be watching! and follow along!
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I get the credit, and yet. . . . I feel like I am the least deserving. greenLockers as a movement is not powered by me, but by countless individuals that decided to be a part of equipping students. . . moving the world forward. Here are some of these individuals that have made major contributions in just the past 2 weeks!
1. Heather – one of my students at Notre Dame who is paving a way for me to speak tonight to the service commissioners of the ND dorms as well as to the ND Circle K club members later on this month.
2. Theresa (an accounting manager) from Dowagiac, MI – who called up a few weeks ago wanting to donate around 200 binders (in about 20 more white bags that you see in the picture) from her work that was going out of business.
3. Verna Davis from South Bend who wanted to donate all of the slightly-used crayons that she had been collecting from her grandchildren over the years (the shoebox in the picture above)
4. Barb from South bend who stopped by Bethel and dropped off some more recylcing bins from a few neighbors (above in picture)
5. Richard in Granger who is wanting to organize a neighborhood collection drive for recyling bins AND school supplies - - be tuning in if you are a resident of Wedgewood in Granger 
6. Dennis from Holy Family grade school in South Bend – he wants in. . . one of many people serving in area schools that are bringing their schools on board!
5. Colin – V.P. of Penn’s NHS – he wants NHS at Penn to be in too. . . . just a few students at Penn!!! – should be an amazing partnership
I am amazed and excited about the power of greenLockers to help change the lives of hundreds if not thousands of students THIS YEAR – those that receive AND those that give. It is March, which means less than 3 months until locker clean-out!!! I am grateful for everyone who is supporting greenLockers – we are already gearing up for what should be an amazing Spring!!
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WOW! What a Day!!! I first and foremost just want to thank God for allowing the event to be pulled off without a hitch. Secondly, most of the credit goes to many of you. . . the people that gave up so much of their time and energy (primarily through shivering) on Saturday to be the face of greenLockers. This was the first public appearance of greenLockers (this year – new name, new nonprofit status, and new logo) to the public as a whole here, and I could not have been more pleased!
Let me give you some of my highlights:
1. Dark and early 7:35am on Sat. morning go on camera with Nick from WNDU – trying to get the word out early – interviewed by the entrance to Martin’s or what I like to call – the “Wind tunnel” ~ -8 wind chill they said. . . . I was praying for the commitment of my team and my community – that all would turn out – they did not disappoint!
2. ~ 8:00am - The Martin’s manager – Doug – at Ironwood and SR23 – helping me shovel the sidewalk for 10 minutes. . . with no coat on (just a short-sleeved shirt) – and then bringing out coffee and and a fresh round of donuts – free of charge!!
3. My neighbor – Barb – gets a promo on the 8:15 live broadcast of WNDU’s morning show. . . I asked her the night before if she wanted to be on TV – why?. . . because I think everone over the age of 65 around here watches that show on Sat. morning – if they saw her up and contributing maybe they would too. Once, again, saw many senior citizens on Sat. – I love their commitment and their smiles! – you can see some of WNDU’s video reports HERE
4. ~8:35 – My unbelievable sister-in-law Jennifer Thursby shows up (my partner in crime in organizing all of this!), and she is ready to ROCK! – I love her energy – she really made this thing work!!
5. ~8:45 – One of my great friends – Kevin shows up early to get things rolling at the ND Martin’s – - 2 stories involving Kevin – 1). good thing he was there, he had to call 9-1-1 later that morning for a woman who slipped on the ice . . . 2). people often pulled up to our table and then just popped open their trunk for us to get out the container . . . well, one time a car pulled up, and so naturally Kevin went back to the trunk and opened it. . . . that was until, the driver yelled back at him “what are you doing?!! – oops. . . . guess he didn’t have a bin – thanks Kevin for your leadership and commitment.
6. ~ 9:00 – Trek down to the Western Avenue Martin’s where my good friend, and fellow Bethel professor, Josh Sauerwein had set up camp, along with some great volunteers! I was at this location – not because I thought it would bring in a ton of bins, but 3 other reasons: 1). This is an area that Entermission is pouring into with its community center (MC3), and I wanted to be an extension of that 2). This is an area that will be receiving a lot of our supplies come June, so I wanted to have a presence now, so they will trust us then 3). This area of town is desolate in many ways – this recession has pummeled them so much already – I wanted to be a light of hope on Sat., and the people I met were amazing! – at the end of the day, they ended up with 100 Bins- GREAT JOB! . . . . The information cards and green mints were an especially big hit here!
- side note – Ben Sanders (professional photographer and videographer) is AWESOME, and I so appreciate him hanging out with us today – got some great footage – thanks Ben!!!!
7. ~ 9:45 – over to Erskine Plaza to check on Amy Sipe and her crew. Soon after I show up . . . an older gentleman rolls up in a souped-up (sp?) Corvette and gives each of the young ladies roses – like a half-dozen each!! . . . . I also heard that there had been a guy there earlier yelling at them for being “green” – asking “why do you care about the environment anyway?!!!” – and then also commenting that “China is the real problem, and all we have to do is . . . .sell them FLORIDA – that would solve everything. . . . . . WHAT?!” – so, one of the volunteers commented “we are just collecting old recycling bins, man” . . . . . . . he said “Oh . . .” and then went away. . . . . . . . . . – at the end of the day, they ended up with 271 Bins- GREAT JOB!
8. ~11:00 - Over to Bittersweet to check out Marlyn and her crew – this was a tough location because a lot of Mishawaka residents did not get new recycling containers – they’re on a slightly different system. Once again, though, I want to be in Mishawaka schools come May, and so I wanted to make a good impression in the area – mission accomplished. – at the end of the day, they ended up with 100 Bins- GREAT JOB!
9. ~12:00 noon – Back up to ND’s Martin’s . . . I am surprised to see around 10 volunteers hanging out collecting bins – GREAT! considering I only had like 3 scheduled. It just blew me away to see the performance of my volunteer team. . . I couldn’t be more proud!!
10. ~12:30 – get a call that WAOR – the Bear is having a super bowl contest at the Granger Martin’s, and Tia Brown (the volunteer leader at that location) has asked them for a spot on their live broadcast. . . . they said yes!!! So, I get up there, and watch some guy go nuts when he won the contest!! . . .and then walk outside to the van and do a live remote with Mike – GREAT!! – thanks WAOR for the free air time! By the way. . . well done Granger – between Heritage Square (which was NOT a drop-off site) and the Granger Martins – 200 bins!!
11. ~1:30 - Back to ND’s Martin’s to see that J aquila, and his volunteer team, has taken over the reigns nicely – and leading the charge into the last 1.5 hours. He also coordinates (and later stars in. . . ) another round of WNDU footage/interview (you can see some of WNDU’s video reports HERE). A South Bend Tribune reporter and photographer also stops by and gets some more information from us. . . not sure when that will be in the paper, but looking forward to it !! – way to go ND – at the end of the day, they ended up with 450 Bins- GREAT JOB!
12. ~2:45 – Brian Young and his crew load up the containers at ND (he donated his box truck – which was huge!), and I headed back down to Erskine Plaza to help out my second warhouse/truck team of Brian Thursby (my incredible brother-in-law) and Jacob Rendall. Just want to say thanks for Penske trucks as well, for helping us out with a truck this weekend!! I was told that FOX 28 news had shown up and done an interview with Robert – one of the volunteers – check it out HERE.
13. ~4:00 – meet the two trucks at the 5-star warehouse in Elkhart and unload the bins. . . . . what a day. . . . . over 1100 bins . . . 34 volunteers . . . . and scores of ordinary people in the community wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves!! – Can’t wait to see what’s next!!
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So, I decided this morning would be a good time to buy my first ever newspaper with cash from Martin’s. . . . since I was told that the article about greenLockers may be in there today. Sure enough. . . FRONT PAGE of the Local section – I was excited!!
I thought that Jeff Parrott wrote a great article – well organized, and with all the essential information, so my thanks to him .
Now, we will see what happens this week – I hope that I can get some more play on some local radio stations, as well as TV. I hope to get at least 1,000 bins on this coming Sat., but what really matters is whatever God has in mind (so, I am preparing for 10x that much if necessary).
I just checked the 10-day forecast for Sat. 31st. . . . 29 degrees and partly sunny. Hey, that is not too bad – everybody come on out and help greenLockers prepare to help hundreds/thousands of kids this year – bring your bins – (THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAN!!!) - let’s see how many we can get!!
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God really seems to up to something lately. . . . and though I can’t tell you yet about it – trust me. . . you will be the first to know (ok 2nd technically, because I will tell my wife first )
I will give you 3 clues though - Collection drive for St. Joseph County, greenLockers, and these:
DON’T THROW THEM AWAY OR RECYCLE THEM YET!!!! I AM GOING TO WANT THEM FOR MY PROJECT!. . . . . and your neighbors’ too
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History (brief):
4 years ago I was working on my PhD at Notre Dame, I decided to go down to Back2Back in Mexico with Lifeline (now called Granger Student Ministries), Corey Mann mentioned to us that we needed to fill 40 suitcases full of school supplies to give away. I think that stressed us all out a little bit. . . that is a lot of pencils! However, I remember that night in my quiet time God telling me, with His great sense of humor. . . “40? . . . I am so much bigger than 40 suitcases”. In the coming days, I believe that God allowed me to remember back to my own school days, and specifically, the locker clean-out days at the end of every year. You know. . . . when there is a controlled dump of all of the contents of your locker into the nearest trashcan (which were located every 3 feet in the hallway). I simply thought. . . what if, . . . instead of throwing away everything, I provided different containers that the students could put new or slightly used school supplies and clothes into?? That was the beginning of greenLockers (it was called Trash to Treasure until this year).
Simple enough idea, I thought. It is a long story so let’s fast forward a bit. . . I was in two schools that first year (Clay High School first and then Discovery Middle School). Though I am forever grateful to Joy Laurent over at Clay . . . it was a nightmare at the high school level – all of my boxes were destroyed with pop cans, and the custodial staff – literally – cussed me out, until they saw me cleaning all of the hallways myself . . . . side note. . . . I was literally, so discouraged that first day that I nearly gave up. . . that is, until someone cussed me out about how stupid of an idea this was. . . . well. . . that’s all it took for my competitive juices to go into overdrive. . . . . I decided right then in there that I was all in!!! . . . no way was I going to back down now!! On the other hand. . . Discovery Middle School was a complete success. I received, with no advertising, and minimal effort, over 20 pillow boxes worth of materials (way more than 40 suitcases) that year.
During year two, I partnered with 5-star, Waste Management (who donated over 200 big trash totes for free), Feed The Children (used some of their warehouse space for free), and Granger Community Church (for sorting and distribution of collected materials – to The Crossing for example). In each 5-star school, I set up leadership teams of students that would be in charge of putting the totes in the hallways on the appropriate days as well as advertising by word of mouth. I focused on Middle schools due to the wide range of supplies (i.e., art supplies for little kids as well as notebooks and stuff for older kids), the respect of the students and teachers, and the already present influence of 5-star. I received over 6500 pounds of materials from those 5 schools – - an unbelievable success! Those supplies then went to a local alternative school, some ministries in Chicago, as well as Back2Back in Mexico.
Here is a picture of Corey and I unloading some more containers
good times - over 6500 pounds of supplies!
Last year (year 3), we were going to be in 9 schools (same as 5-star), but I had to leave to go out of town at the end of last May, and so the project did not go through. That is why this year. . . .it is not all on me. . . in fact I am raising up a team right now that is going to be able to take this project to the next level
So where do we stand this year:
1. 5-star is in 11 schools. . . . we’ll be there too!
2. If you would like to get your school involved – please let me know – it’s very easy!!
3. I am now officially partnered with Entermission, which means that I have non-profit status. . . . . so yes. . . I know you are dying to donate . . . it can be a tax deduction. . . please let me know if you want to donate – time, materials, trucks, and/or finances
4. I am also partnering with Better World Books to help distribute the books that I received through greenLockers – in return a portion of their profit will be donated back into greenLockers. If you want to help with a book drive at your school or college for used novels or textbooks (college only) – to help fund greenLockers – please let me know!
5. I am currently trying to set up drives for people in St. Joseph county (except for Mishawaka) to donate their old recycling bins from Solid Waste Management – as they are changing over to the new big toters at the beginning of 2009, and they are not requiring you to turn them back in. I have been working with Solid Waste Management – and they have already gotten me started with some of their exra bins. . . . but I am going to need hundreds/thousands of these bins in order to be in all of the schools in the area – if you want to donate your container or organize a drive at your local school/neighborhood – please let me know
The vision:
Short-term: Run a successful campaign in 5-star schools – solidifying the role of the 5-star students, establish a reasonable and replicable drop-off/pick-up/storage system from a logistics perspective, and establish new avenues for distributing materials.
Long-term: I would like to be able to move into schools outside of 5-star with other eligible student/parent groups (NHS, PTA, etc…), and also move into some High schools – once the program is established in their associated/feeder middle schools (i.e., so the students know what to expect – more likely to respect the effort).
Dream-term: Not going to shy away from this. . . I don’t see any reason why this can’t someday be in every school in the country . . . . there is a great need nationally and internationally, and it costs very little money. . . seriously. . . if God wants it to happen. . . and I don’t screw up too badly (that’s a big “if”). . . it’s going to happen.
Mission slogan (still a work in progress):
Equipping students, moving the world forward
The Logo (or with black background?? - I am open to suggestions) ** this was showing up last night, but may not be displayed on some computers – sorry:
The Credit:
To the creator God who charged us to be responsible over His creation. . . . . what an honor! . . . . . . humbly, I come to play a small part . . . .
Why it works?
1. There is no extra pull on a school’s resources – financially or staff-wise.
2. Adults and children alike naturally want to help others, if it is at no cost to them.
3. It could help supplicate local school resources – especially in the inner-city.
4. It is easy for the student body to understand, and takes little to no extra effort on their part.
5. Participating in this project is not a risk to the student’s peer status.
6. Students are more likely to contribute when they see fellow students (5-star, NHS, etc…) leading the charge.
My prayer:
That others will experience God’s love through both the giving and receiving of these supplies. . . gifts that can help break cycles. . .give hope. . . enable them to no longer be ashamed. . . provide access to truth and discovery. . . .helping them . . . moving the world forward. . . .together as one. . .
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