the trading post

12/05/07

as a direct result of make a difference day organizing, my office here at the red cross has become a sort of trading post for non-profits in need of stuff. at first, i sent out a solicitation email letting everyone here know that we were collecting toiletries for the guesthouse. the response was awesome, as one of the people from disaster relief (melissa, i think.... is anyone picking up that i am terrible with names?) donated a ton of toiletries to us, as well as an overall positive response by the rest of the red cross staff.

so, all these toiletries were shipped on over to guesthouse, and life moved on. it was quite lovely, i felt good about myself and earned a gold star on my belt of humanity, etc... and so i continued with my presentations and events.

a few weeks ago, a lady who volunteers with one of the other departments came into my office. apparently, she'd also received the email and was coming to drop some things off for the event. during our exchange, she remarked on a stack of boxes piled haphazardly in the corner of my office. i told her that these boxes were remnants of some grand plan, left over batteries from a donation campaign that didn't go as planned (apparently, double a batteries are not very popular in the disaster realm). so in my office they sat, abandoned and lonely, occasionally dipped into by co-workers for am/fm radios and such.

the woman had a light bulb moment. would it be possible for her to take some of the batteries? she had a connection over at the habitat for humanity restore project. i consulted with my boss, and it was an a-ok deal. presto, four of those boxes of batteries found new homes helping another nonprofit. add another gold star, i feel good.

now, a few weeks ago, i sent out a call for help to fellow allies. i've been having problems scheduling presentations. veronica told me it's pretty slow this time of year, but i just feel like i could be doing more. as a result of this call, one of my fellow allies actually spread the word. michael's mom gave me a call, and in addition to wanting a presentation, she asked me if i would be able to help out with a couple different projects she's been working on. being poor as i am, i was regretful that i could only help with the presentations, but i kept her in mind.

yesterday, around 2 pm, melissa... which i am certain is not her name... came into my office and asked if i could use some more stuff. then, it was my turn for a light bulb moment. i was excited to track down audrey, michael's mom, to say that i did in fact have some things she could have! another gold star.

i think that being a part of the chain of progress is where i fit in best. matt and i were talking last night about my interests as a means to determine what direction i should head career-wise. i determined that i am interested in business, but am not so much driven by money as by success. (for some people, those two things are very much that same.) this series of events is, in my opinion, very much success. someone heard about this project, and kept it in mind. others had things to offer, and so the first part was successful. after the event, people were still willing, and that allowed for help in other ways (to audrey's projects.) it makes me happy.



i'm actually getting to implement some good working ideas and see some tangible progress. it's not theory, but practical; these things are physically helping people.

i'm looking forward to the TSP. i've been reading a lot about service learning, and feel like this is the time for me to practice all the skills i've hoped to hone. with guidance and sugestions from fellow allies, program managers and community leaders, i can't imagine this going wrong. our team has a lot of motivation and passion for change, so i'm looking forward to see what we come up with.