Work Builders – Dad's Blog

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

Delayed a bit by some uncooperative weather, Ryan was able to make his second donation of Easy Builder building blocks this week. This donation was to Toys for Tots and was great fun. Toys for Tots representative Marine LCpl Danbach came to Ryan’s 1st grade classroom at Vestal Hills Elementary School, in dress blue uniform no less!

Ryan had a total of 51 complete sets of his building blocks on hand to give to Toys for Tots. In addition to that, his 1st grade teacher Mrs. Finch and the class added some more toys to the donation. The class has been following Ryan’s efforts to support charity and his teacher has used this to help teach about leadership and charitable giving. It’s been great to see Mrs. Finch and her class be so supportive, thank you! The school even added some photos from the day to their web site for all to see.

The school district had contacted local media about the donation so there was also some TV coverage of the event. This added a certain degree of excitement for the class on top of the Marine in uniform. Our cable news channel News 10 Now did a very nice story about the donation that Ryan made which you can view online from their web site.

The 1st grade class enjoyed the visit from LCpl Danbach thoroughly and they all behaved very well throughout. LCpl Danbach took time to talk with the class answering questions about Toys for Tots as well as a few about his experience in the Marines. I have to say he was quite skilled at addressing their inquiries carefully regardless of the nature of each question. It was evident this was not his first experience with kids.

The kids had some time to check out the building block sets as did LCpl Danbach. Then the TV reporters did some interviews with Ryan, LCpl Danbach and myself. Most importantly, Ryan got to make one more donation of his building block sets which made him very happy. With a smile, Ryan mentioned that it was a fun thing to know that on Christmas morning some kids somewhere would be opening a present that he had made. Then they would play with them and have fun. A nice thought indeed.

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.

Yesterday my wife and I escorted Ryan on a visit to the offices of the United Way of Broome County located here in Vestal, NY. After the Staff and Board of Directors learned of Ryan’s intention to support United Way, they extended an invitation for him to visit.

On the way to their offices Ryan was full of questions about the United Way. What charities do they help? Would they want his building blocks? What does “LIVE UNITED” mean? All good questions and perfect for discussion during our visit.

We were hosted for the visit by Mr. Bruce Dudley, the Communications Director for United Way of Broome County. Mr. Dudley had lots of good questions for Ryan about his business and his building blocks. That was really great for helping Ryan to get comfortable with the visit. I notice that when ever Ryan is asked to talk about his building block business or better yet to show them to someone, his face lights up a bit and his shyness seems to fade. He really likes what he is doing.

We learned that United Way supports one of Ryan’s chosen charities, SOS Shelter. Ryan also learned that United Way supports a few other organizations which he is aware of or even involved with such as Boy Scouts of America and the JCC where Ryan had pre-school and now attends after school programming.

During the course of our visit Ryan also learned what “LIVE UNITED” means. Mr. Dudley explained by telling Ryan that “We all live in the world together and depend on one another. When we help one person we are helping everyone and that is what it means to LIVE UNITED”. He went on to tell Ryan the by doing what he is doing, supporting the United Way and other charities, he is LIVING UNITED too.

Then Mr. Dudley gave Ryan a gift, the LIVE UNITED t-shirt you see here. Ryan was delighted to have received the shirt. He had already seen some of these shirts. Over the last few weeks we had been researching various charity organizations with Ryan. While learning about United Way we watched their new videos which talk about LIVE UNITED.

I think by the time our visit was over Ryan was even more confident in his intent to support United Way. Every day is a learning opportunity in some way.

Early on in the process of building his start-up business, Ryan told us that he wishes to support charity and he has remained steadfast in that mission ever since. Since then he has identified three charities to support in various ways, two of which he wishes to support by making a direct donation of his building blocks.

After contacting these charity organizations to learn if they will accept hand-made toys and if so how many, we learned that the answer to those questions in both cases was a solid yes and “as many as you can provide”. This begged the question, “How many can we provide?”

Between the two of us we had an idea of what we could produce but we wondered if there might be a way to do more. So we talked and brainstormed together to try and figure out how we could make more, lots more. The result of that brainstorming is our “Work Builders Block Party”, and YOU are invited!

The Work Builders Block Party will take place on Saturday November 21, just over one week from now! This will be a volunteer effort to make as many sets of Easy Builder building blocks as we can in one day. Everything produced on that day will go directly to charity! So mark you calendar for November 21 and please plan to come. We need all the help we can get!

Between now and that date I will be cutting at least 500 wood blocks to have on hand for the project. The task for the day will be to sand the sharp/frayed edges so children will not get slivers and to spray paint them different colors that kids will enjoy. It is an easy task really, so bring a friend and spend a little time with us helping charity.

Our plan on Saturday Nov. 21 is to have a large window of time where you are invited to come and participate. You are welcome and encouraged to come for as much time as you can share whether that is 20 minutes or 3 hours. The final details of location and exact hours for the project are being finalized currently and I hope to have all of that information available to you very soon.

A lot of people have expressed interest in helping Ryan and I along with this project for charity. Now is the time so please plan to come to our Block Party, help us make some building blocks to go to kids this holiday season!

If you are planning to help us on Nov. 21st please drop us a note via email and let us know you are coming. If you have a group that might be interested in getting involved then please let us know as soon as possible. We’d love to have you there with us!

If the turnout seems good I may have to cut more blocks for the day. That would be a great problem to have! So continue to watch this blog and Ryan’s Web site for more details as our plans are finalized.

One other way someone may be able to help…

If you know of anyone who might be in a position to help with providing materials for this growing charity project, I would be grateful for help of that nature. As the scale of this seems to be growing so too does that side of the equation. The spray paint and the sanding tools (sanding blocks, sand paper) are the greatest expected expense. Please email me if you have any leads in this regard. Thank you!