Both Hands Project: Success!

    Our project day was great! We had 50 volunteers come! About 25 of them were under 18, and two drove 5 hours one way for the privilege. We all worked hard and got a LOT done - far more than we were originally expecting.

A few "fun stories" from the preparation for the day:

   1. I called our local Country Max store to inquire if they would donate a plant and some fertilizer for Ms. L's house. The manager I spoke with told me that they don't normally donate like that, but that our cause was so encouraging that she was going to make an exception. So we got a really beautiful plant for free!

   2. After getting turned down by a few general stores, I called a Home Depot. I was told by the manager that I could send my official written request, but that it normally took 2-3 weeks to approve, and since our project was only a week away, she couldn't guarantee they'd get to look at it in time. I got the approval 24 hours later.

   3. One of my first food requests was to Bruegger's. The manager told me that I could make the request, but she didn't think they'd be able to grant it - maybe a discount, or a partial donation was a possibility, based on the decisions she'd seen in the past from her boss. I had sent the formal request letter, and needed to call back many times to get a final answer, since the store manager needed to find out from her boss. On a Monday morning, the store manager confirmed that she understood they would not be able to donate at all. Less than 45 minutes later, I got an email from the manager's boss indicating that they would love to donate the full amount we had requested.

   4. When I called Dunkin' Donuts, I was thinking of a store close to me. After they said they'd be happy to donate, I realized that the store I'd called was not the store I was thinking of. But in God's providence, it was even more convenient - across the street from the Bruegger's that was donating bagels.

   5. I called Al's Maintenance to see if they would be willing to donate a dumpster. They invited me to submit the formal request letter, but I did not get a sense that they were excited about our project or inclined to grant the request. So after sending the letter, I contacted ALPCO about a dumpster. ALPCO was not financially able to donate a dumpster but was very eager to help with our project. Their dispatcher helped me think through lots of options. We talked about utilizing municipal yard waste pickup and recycling everything from old books and magazines to electronics, appliances, and cabinets! Eventually, the amount of actual garbage that we would be generating on the project day seemed relatively small, and they would allow us to dispose of it at their facility at their cost. I felt enthusiastic that we could make this work.

Then the next morning I got a call from Al's Maintenance saying they'd love to donate a dumpster to our project! When I spoke with Ms. L later in the week, I learned from her that she was very eager to recycle many of her things. I saw God's hand of provision in that if I'd felt confident that we could get a dumpster, I probably wouldn't have sought the non-dumpster options. As it turned out, our recycling pile was at least as large as the quantity in the dumpster.

   And finally, 6. We called our local Sherwin-Williams store to ask them to donate the paint for the project. Not only were they willing to donate all the paint, but also any paint-related materials (brushes, etc.). And the store manager offered to come work with us on our workday! Mr. J was a fantastic blessing to our project - not only providing materials, but organizing and teaching many of our volunteers how to do a great job on Ms. L's house!

We felt tremendously loved and blessed by all the volunteers who came to help out. Stay tuned for a link to our project video! You can track our fundraising progress here.