Work Builders – Dad's Blog

After saving for the last few months, Ryan’s hard earned profits had grown to the point where it seemed time to make his donation to United Way of Broome County. So, yesterday I picked him up from school and we headed over to the United Way offices here in Vestal, NY to do just that. Ryan had decided on his own long ago that he would give a full 50% of his Work Builders profits to United Way. This was his first chance to put that plan into action.

Ryan shows off his blocks for the TV cameras.

Last week I contacted United Way to let them know Ryan wanted to make his donation. They were already aware of his charitable activities supporting Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter as well as his intentions for supporting United Way once his profits accumulated. In fact they have been very supportive of everything Ryan has been doing helping to spread the word and even buying some of his blocks.

When we arrived there were already two TV camera crews there and two more would come shortly thereafter. There was also a reporter from the local newspaper who had come for the story. They took a little time to interview Ryan as best you can with a six-year-old and he shared a bit about the day’s donation and how he had raised the funds. At one point Ryan was surrounded by four TV cameras and a photographer. That was without counting me. I did come prepared with camera in hand and took a few photos of my own! Ryan seemed to take it all in stride. I was able to find the news report done by News 10 Now online. You can view the video here.

Ryan with Mr. Alan Hertel, Executive Director of United Way of Broome County.

Next Ryan got to meet Mr. Alan Hertel, Executive Director of United Way of Broome County, who was looking forward to meeting Ryan and would personally accept his donation. Mr. Hertel waited patiently as did the room full of news crews as Ryan carefully counted out the money he had brought to donate, $60.00 in all. Ryan then gave his donation to Mr. Hertel and in return received a receipt for his records. I’ll talk with him more about that later. Mr. Hertel talked with Ryan a bit about how his donation helps United Way and some of the things United Way does for our community. Before he was done, Mr. Hertel also bought a set of blocks from Ryan. A nice surprise that added to the fun.

When Ryan left the United Way offices he had a smaller stash of money in his shiny money box, but I do believe he had a bigger smile than the one he arrived with. He really enjoyed making his donation and I enjoyed watching him.

Up until now any money Ryan has managed to accumulate from his Work Builders business or the catalyst Lemonade Stand he and his brother ran last summer, has been kept in a shiny “money box”, a very nice jewelry box his mother gave him. After discussing it off and on over recent weeks, Ryan and I headed off to the bank so he could open up his very own savings account!

With his money box in hand Ryan was excited to head into the bank. Given his choice of what bank he would like to use, he chose the bank closest to our house so that “we can get there fast if we need to”. As we walked into the bank he also commented he was glad to finally see what the inside of this bank looks like. We drive past it all the time.

Ryan prepares to deposit some money.

Once inside we waited a few minutes and were then helped by a nice lady named Gigi. She explained the details of the “Starter” savings account which Ryan would have and we took care of the paperwork. After considering his options carefully, Ryan decided that an initial deposit of $10.00 would be good and so it was.

So now with his savings account in place, Ryan likes that his money will “grow” in the bank. Hopefully he won’t be too disappointed when he sees what that really means with a small deposit and frighteningly low interest rate. But he is learning some lessons about how to handle money and that is a good thing. Plus it counts as an achievement for him as a Cub Scout too, so he’s got that going for him…

As we exited the bank Ryan’s naturally inquisitive nature drew him to the impressive large metal vault door. Unwilling to leave without at least a rudimentary understanding of what that was and how it worked, his curiosity was satisfied by another helpful bank employee who offered him a quick look inside and brief description.

All in all a good learning experience for Ryan. Now he knows where to keep his money safe!

If I have had to do anything proactive throughout the process of assisting Ryan as he has started up his Work Builders company and building block business, it has been to keep the reigns pulled in a bit. You see, building blocks are not his vision for Work Builders. Not by a long shot.

The trick so far has been to keep him focused on a product simple enough that we can reasonably make it by hand, with a somewhat sketchy selection of tools to work with. His plans for product offerings are extensive and in some cases rather involved. But here is one we may be able to work on without too much in the way of retooling, or breaking the bank.

Ryan’s brother Collin has a birthday on January 5. This year he turned 4 years old and boy was he looking forward to that! You see, when you are four years old “everything’s fun!” as he puts it. In any case, Ryan decided to make a present for Collin’s birthday and that is what you see pictured here. Ryan’s bus. Some time ago Ryan had been playing around with some building blocks one day and it struck him that they looked like a bus. He’s been pondering that idea ever since.

The bus is made from materials we already had on hand, Easy Builder building blocks! I admire his resourcefulness using materials we already had. The only thing we had to get specifically for this bus was the wheels. His plan was to glue the blocks together paint them yellow (paint we also already had on hand) and draw on the details that would make the bus look good. Collin’s birthday was a perfect chance to build his prototype and give it a test run. I think he did a great job!

If he does decide to go ahead with this as a new product for Work Builders there will be some details to work on for sure. As you can see from the second photo, all four wheels don’t sit nicely on the ground and that is a detail not lost on Ryan. So we’ll need to do a better job with that. Also it adds some time and expense to be gluing the blocks together and such. We might find ourselves discussing other options for building materials. But these are things you learn when you build your first prototype, right?

So for now Ryan is pondering this bus as a new product offering. For the future, he has been writing down other ideas in a planning notebook. One he had me get at the store expressly for this purpose. In his planning notebook… All I can say is that he has the book broken down into sections each one containing a list of other products he is considering for production, soon.

As for me? I’m still holding the reigns, a little.