Work Builders – Dad's Blog

Probably the biggest challenge I have found in helping Ryan orchestrate his Work Builders Block Party the last two years has been to find a way to pay for it. After funding the first event (2009) entirely out of pocket and seeing the second year’s event grow in size almost twofold, it was obvious that something would need to change in order to make this whole idea viable in the future.

Thanks to one of Ryan’s chosen charities being open to working with us on this, for the 2010 event we were able to solicit donations (to SOS Shelter) which are earmarked for the costs we incur. Excess funds stay with the charity for their benefit. However, this alone did not mean funding was a done deal! No. What followed was a lot of time and effort spent reaching out to anyone who would listen (and some who probably preferred not to) to find donors. It was a tougher job than I would have guessed going in.

When all was said and done for last year’s Block Party, I was able to generate enough donations to cover our costs, barely. Maybe I was naive, but I thought I could have managed triple that.

Then a bit after the new year I got a call from Cindy Armstrong, a Mortgage Originator at M&T Bank and summertime golfing friend. Last fall I had approached her as well as many others trying to generate some donations. At that time she told me it would have to be considered by other decision makers within the bank and they would let me know. I heard that a lot I have to tell you. But here she was a few months later letting me know.

The news was good! They had decided to make a donation of $500 in support of Ryan’s Work Builders Block Party! Wow! What a great way to get things kicked off for 2011! A week or so later Ryan was invited to meet with Cindy and Mr. Glenn Small at SOS Shelter offices to accept their generous donation.

So after school on that day I took Ryan to the SOS Shelter offices to meet our friends from M&T Bank. We were greeted by a variety of people from SOS Shelter pictured above. They had a lot of the donated Easy Builder building block sets on hand to show our donors what it was all about, toys for kids in need.

Soon Cindy Armstrong arrived and shortly there after Mr. Glenn Small arrived as well. Mr. Small is a Regional President for M&T Bank. They had lots of questions for Ryan about what he has been doing, where the idea came from and how it makes him feel. I think Ryan did a good job talking with them and answering their questions. He let them know how we appreciate their donation as well!

We would like to send a very big thank you off to Mr. Small, Cindy and all the others at M&T Bank for their donation and support! I hope others will see their support and decide to help us as well. We are hoping to make the 2011 event even better and this kind of help will go a long way toward helping us reach that goal!

Last night Ryan visited the executive offices of SOS Shelter and donated 65 sets of his Easy Builder building blocks for their use. Ryan was greeted by five members of the SOS Shelter board and staff. It was a happy visit and fun for Ryan to complete his goals of distributing toys for the holidays again this year.

These 65 sets of building blocks were the result of Ryan’s second Work Builders Block Party and the help of 175 volunteers who attended this year. Roughly two weeks ago Ryan also donated a similar number of building block sets to Toys for Tots. His donation to Toys for Tots happened at his elementary school with all of his second grade classmates there to see.

If you would like to support Ryan’s efforts to help charity, your tax deductible donations will support the Work Builders Block Party! Get all the info here!

One year ago at just six years of age, Ryan Steadman started his own business, promised to share 50% of his earnings with charity and inspired a community charity project attended by over 100 volunteers! This year at seven years old he has done it again, his second Work Builders Block Party.

It would be hard not to be proud of any son who takes such initiative to help others much less one doing so at 6 or 7 years of age. He has remained true to all his pledges giving half of his earnings to United Way and finding ways to give to other charities as well. His second Work Builders Block Party charity event, which happened just two weeks ago, out performed the first with greater attendance (175) and more building blocks for charity (1,800).

So, what is next for this pint sized entrepreneur? Well, second grade. I can tell you that he has not lost any interest in his Work Builders business or helping charity. And the Work Builders Block Party? He has every intention of doing another one next year and making it bigger!

We’re off to a great start towards pulling off the Work Builders Block Party again this year. But there is one more piece to this puzzle I am anxious to put together. How do we pay for it all?

The first Block Party was a whirlwind that happened over a span of two weeks time from concept to event date! I didn’t have time to worry about how the costs were getting covered. I was focused on making it happen and happen it did. This year promises to be as big or bigger and the costs will grow accordingly.

So how do we pay for it? Soliciting donations seems like a reasonable idea. The effort is all for charity after all. But, Work Builders is not a non-profit and anyone asked to contribute will want to know their donation can be a tax deduction in the spring. It only makes sense.

So I started asking a few questions earlier this summer. I asked people who know more than I, “How do you become a non-profit?”. The answers were not encouraging. My take after numerous conversations is that it would take a lot of work and significant costs to make it happen. It seemed prohibitive.

Then I happened to spend 5 minutes talking with the right person and everything changed! There may be a way. Anyone who works extensively with non-profit organizations would probably know this but it was a revelation for me. If we work closely with one of the non-profits we plan to support, we can solicit donations (to that organization) which are held for our use! Wow!

There are deeper details to the whole thing but the net result is that it opens the door for two great things to happen. First, we can generate funds which will pay the costs of our event. And second, we may be able to generate greater funds which can benefit our charity in an even larger way! As they say, it’s a WIN-WIN!

So, we are trying to put this relationship together and keeping our fingers crossed that this will work. If it does I am sure you will be hearing about it.

If you would consider helping us with a contribution (or know someone we should contact) please contact us here! As soon as we have a solid plan for making that happen we will be in touch. Even small contributions will help a lot. I hope you will consider it.

During the Work Builders Block Party of 2009 Ryan came to me at one point and said, “Daddy, I want to do this again next week!” Well, we didn’t do it the following week, but we ARE doing it again in the following year.

Announcing the Work Builders Block Party 2010!

The Work Builders Block Party is a community volunteer project and YOU are invited. Our project is to make as many sets of Easy Builder building blocks as we can in one day. Then ALL of them are donated to local charity.

Once again this year Ryan has decided to support Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter with the building block sets we make. Last year we were able to donate 51 sets of kids building blocks to each of those charity organizations. This year we hope to do even more with your help.

Here are the details:

What: Work Builders Block Party
Where: Binghamton University, Fine Arts Building, room FA212
When: Sunday November 14, 2010 10am-3pm
Who: EVERYONE is welcome!
How: You can sign up online RIGHT NOW!

We hope you will come and help us make some happy holidays for children who need it. Come when you can, you don’t have to be there start to finish. If you can make it for an hour or a few hours we will be glad to have your help!

I hope we will see you there! Mark your calendar for Sunday November 14!

It has been roughly two weeks now since the Work Builders Block Party took place and we have been busy here at home preparing to make the donations of Easy Builder building blocks. With the block party producing over 1,200 building blocks to work with, Ryan and the rest of us have been working on finishing the collection of 100 sets of blocks.

The work left to do after the block party has been to finish painting some of the blocks that didn’t get painted that day, separate the blocks into 12 block sets, package them into individual carrying bags and put on some identifying tags. With 1,200+ blocks prepared, this turned out to be more work than we would have guessed, but it is all good.

Next up is the fun part, Ryan gets to finally make his donations. He is really excited about this! I have to say that I can see it in his eyes every time he personally delivers a set of his building blocks to a customer, his eyes light up and he is delighted to see their face when they receive the blocks.

One day last week I took Ryan out after school to deliver some of his block sets to his local customers. In each case I noticed that he waited long enough to see them open the bag and check out the blocks. The more they liked them, the more excited he was. He is truly enjoying this.

But back to his donations. This week he will be making donations to both Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter. On Wednesday a Marine Staff Sergeant will be coming to Ryan’s first grade classroom to receive Ryan’s donation of 50 sets of Easy Builder building blocks for Toys for Tots. Then he will be making his second donation to SOS Shelter on Thursday. When all is said and done all 100 sets of blocks will be on their way to some deserving charities.

It is going to be a fun week and I am truly looking forward to seeing Ryan’s face when all of this comes to fruition.

During the course of the Work Builders Block Party I had the opportunity to meet and speak with so many people I would not have otherwise ever met. There were lots of interesting people in attendance from many different demographics.

One of these people presented what sounded to me like a great idea as he viewed our volunteer project from his own perspective. I wish I had made note of his name to give him proper credit but unfortunately I did not. The person I am speaking of is a Binghamton University student who mentioned that home for him is in Brooklyn, NY. This young man took a moment to tell me how impressed he was with our charity project and that he was enjoying being there with us very much.

We were talking outside where the spray painting was going on as he was spray painting a set of blocks he had just finished sanding. I commented that at the days start I was concerned with the idea of bringing spray paint onto University property and had hoped that we would not somehow wind up responsible for graffiti on school property. The last thing I wanted to see happen was to be the catalyst for mischief. Thankfully, no such mischief happened.

Then he came up with an interesting idea. Mentioning how it was fun to see all these people using the spray paint for a good cause, he thought of all the graffiti artists and “taggers” in the areas surrounding his hometown. He said, “Wouldn’t it be great to invite all of those people to get together and use their spray paint for something positive like this!” Cool idea! As he thought of it more he seemed to think that would be pretty great.

It struck me how Ryan’s great idea was now generating a new idea from this enthusiastic BU student. I can not guess whether this student will ever try to follow through with that idea or not, but just knowing that Ryan’s idea might lead to others was a cool feeling.

Graffiti for Good… Somebody run with that!

What a great day it was for our family! On Saturday (Nov. 21) we held Ryan’s Work Builders Block Party and everything went great. We had over 100 people attend and help with our project. By days end we finished over 1,200 building blocks which would fill out more than 100 complete sets of Easy Builder building blocks for charity!

We are so grateful to Binghamton University for providing a place for our event to be held and to the Binghamton Circle K student volunteer organization in particular, who supported our effort as university sponsors for the event. Without Circle K’s sponsorship we would not have been able to hold the event on BU campus.

The room was bustling with activity all day long and the energy was great. We had volunteers helping out from all age groups and all backgrounds. There were many Binghamton University students, Vestal Elementary School students and parents, Cub Scout members, professional colleagues, family friends and many others who heard about the event and made the time in their schedules to come and help.

Ryan was so energized that it was all we could do to get him to take a moment to eat a sandwich. He was busy showing people how to do the painting then took over moving hundreds of blocks to and from the outdoor painting area.

His younger brother Collin spent the entire day greeting everyone who attended, giving them stickers and big smiles. If you were here on Saturday it is a good bet Collin “stickered” you before you left.

Over the next few days or week perhaps, we will be packaging all of the 1,200+ building blocks into the Easy Builders cloth bags in preparation for donation to Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter. I have been in touch with both of these charities and they are thrilled and look forward to our donations. Doing that will be great fun and I am looking forward to seeing the look on Ryan’s face when he gives them his building block sets. It is what he has been working towards all along.

There are so many people to thank for helping to make Ryan’s vision become a reality it is hard to know where to begin. But here are a few I would like to mention in hopes I am not leaving anyone out.

• Binghamton University
• Binghamton Circle K student volunteer organization
• 3i Graphics
• The Write Strategy
• Lowe’s Home Improvement
• The Johnson Family
• All volunteers/participants who attended!

At some point of the day during the Work Builders Block Party on Saturday Ryan came to me quite happy and said, “Daddy, I want to do this again… next week!” Well, we can’t quite manage something like that, but maybe again next year, who knows.

This was the question Ryan posed to me this evening, “Daddy? Why are all these people helping us so much?”. A fair question to be sure since in the last 12 days we have had the Johnson family lend us woodworking tools, numerous staff of Binghamton University spending countless hours to help us find a home for our event, 3i Graphics donating signage and at least two different Binghamton University student volunteer groups asking to be involved. Beyond that we have had many, many people telling us they plan to come on Saturday to participate in our Work Builders Block Party. So, a  fair question indeed.

What struck me in his question was his sincerity. He simply doesn’t realize just how special it is, what he is doing. So, he does not understand why so many people want to pitch in and help. He is excited about Saturday’s event not because he will personally get anything out of it or from any expectations of play or “party”. He is excited because people will be helping us make more blocks and that means more to give to Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter. Now I know I am biased as his dad, but really, there is something special there.

But back to Ryan’s question, why are all these people helping us so much? To answer his question I found myself explaining what it means “to inspire”. Put simply, I told him that all of these people have seen what he is doing and they think it is good, especially coming from a 6yr old. They are  moved by his good intentions to the point that they feel they want to help and be a part of it in some way. They have been inspired.

I think he understands now, why all of these people are helping us. But at the same time I do not believe he thinks he is doing anything overly special. For him, this is just what he does and it is fun. And that, is a good thing.

If you have not already heard about the Work Builders Block Party I would like to personally invite you, your friends and family to come out and help Ryan and I support charity. All the details are now confirmed and that was no small task!

Through the generous help of numerous others we are now able to say that this event will be happening this coming Saturday November 21 and will be held on the Binghamton University campus! Our special thanks to the Binghamton University Circle K student volunteer organization without whom we would not be able to hold our event on University property. Thank you for your interest and support! Here are the event details.

• Date: Saturday November 21, 2009
• Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm
• Place: Binghamton University Fine Arts Building rm# 212
• Who: ALL are invited from our community and the University
• What: We will be sanding and spray painting building block sets
• Why: ALL Easy Builder building block toy sets made on this day will be donated directly to Toys for Tots and SOS Shelter. These building block toy sets will be distributed to children and families in our community who would otherwise have less to offer their children this holiday season.

This is a community charity project being supported by Binghamton University, a wonderful example of how the students of Binghamton University can reach out and work together with our local community to help others.

We hope that you will be able to come and help us to make as many building block sets as possible for donation to these worthy charitable organizations! Please note that you are welcome to come for what ever period of time you can make available whether that is 20-30 minutes of 2-3 hours.

We look forward to seeing you there!