Work Builders – Dad's Blog

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!

Part of the fun in this business for Ryan and I has been to watch where his Easy Builder building block sets actually go. A while back I added a fun map to his website which shows just that, the destinations to which he has shipped the block sets.

Naturally, most of his orders have been right here in the central New York area. But as you can see his orders have shipped nationwide, and not just to family either!

People have had fun showing us how much they are enjoying the block sets too. So far we have seen some photos of children enjoying the building blocks and even spotted a YouTube video of some kids opening up their Easy Builder building block sets on Christmas morning! I am not sure who had more fun, the kids opening their presents or Ryan watching them do it on YouTube!

If you would like to share your experience with Easy Builder building blocks with us please do. Send Ryan an email and let us know how the blocks are being enjoyed. We love seeing the pictures!

Earlier this week I took Ryan for a ride to make a delivery of Easy Builder building blocks. Little did he know, this delivery would wind up with a personal tour through the workshop of a local woodworking craftsman.

Off we went to deliver four sets of building blocks to a customer in Kirkwood, NY not far from home. I had an idea what could be in store for us and it was not disappointing! In working out the details of when and where we could drop off the order of blocks I learned that there was a cabinet making shop on the premises.

When we arrived we were greeted enthusiastically by our customer Wendi and Mr. Robert Gaube, a custom cabinet maker of some 30 years or more. After accepting the delivery of blocks from Ryan and congratulating him for his efforts both in business and for charity, they invited us inside to see a true woodworking craftsman’s workshop. It was wonderful!

Robert gave Ryan and I a nice tour of his workshop showing us each of his tools and describing how they are used. He explained how he builds cabinets from scratch with tools we saw there and years of experience. Ryan was interested to learn how these cabinets were constructed without the use of any nails or screws to hold them together, just wood joints and some glue.

There were two things in Mr. Gaube’s woodworking shop that impressed Ryan. First was the impressive quantity and variety of clamps which could be found in almost every nook and cranny of the shop. I don’t think Ryan missed a one. Second was the item shown to the left. As Mr. Gaube put it to Ryan, “This is what woodworking can buy you if you work at it!”

I had a lot of fun with Ryan and watching him experience what a real woodworking shop would be like. For me, I would love to go back sometime and spend some time doing photography in the shop. There were tons of interesting visuals there to be captured. Wendi and Robert be warned, I may be giving you a call one of these days!

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.

Today was the day on which Ryan finally got to deliver dozens of Easy Builder building block sets to charity. Ryan was invited to attend the monthly board meeting for SOS Shelter, one of the charities he decided to support by providing his building block sets as a donation.

Thanks to the help of over 100 volunteers who attended our Work Builders Block Party in November, Ryan was able to donate 51 sets of his blocks to SOS Shelter. We took Ryan and his blocks to their board meeting and the donation happened there. Before the meeting began we filled the conference table with sets of blocks for the board members to see.

Ryan was first on their agenda for the meeting so after a brief introduction Ryan opened up a set of blocks for them to see. Then the board members were all encouraged to open up a set of the blocks sitting on the table in front of them and check them out hands-on. Ryan enjoyed watching them “playing” with the blocks and they seemed to like the donation he made. A few of the board members had a question or two for Ryan and after that we were on our way.

As we headed home with the block sets left behind, I asked Ryan what he thought of the evening. He simply said that he “felt good”. I sort of felt that way too.

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.

Having the right tools really does make a difference. Up until this point Ryan and I have been doing most all of the work on producing these sets of Easy Builder building blocks by hand. Starting with 2x2x8 white pine boards I have been cutting the wood with a handheld electric circular saw. The cutting is at times a bit imprecise depending on a steady hand. The smallest blocks are the trickiest to cut accurately and consistently. I’ve been getting better at it though.

After the blocks are all cut to size Ryan and I forge ahead with sanding the sharp and slivered cut edges to be sure no one will get hurt. This has been a process of sanding by hand with sanding blocks or sandpaper. By far the least fun of all the steps to the production process. After sanding is completed we paint the blocks with cans of spray paint of various colors depending on the orders we are filling at the time. All in all a labor intensive process but one which yields a nice product in the end.

Enter some friends with generous hearts… Learning about Ryan’s business and our tools of choice to date, my friends the Johnson’s made a generous offer of tools. Today we visited the Johnson’s home and picked up a chop saw and a couple of palm sanders to try out. Niiiiice!! Ohh, these make such a difference! Thank you to the Johnson’s!!!

Ryan and I immediately gave the sanders a go. Ryan is a bit skittish with the noise from these (or any power tool), so he’s not so sure they are for him. That is OK really. I’d be just as happy if he is not trying to much with power tools just yet. But Ryan did very quickly come up with a distribution of duties which allows me to use the sanders on some parts of the work while leaving other parts of the sanding for his doing.

The saw of course is off limits for Ryan and he is perfectly fine with that. I am delighted though in that this will make things much more efficient as well as accurate in the end. These tools are borrowed so this is a temporary solution, but they will be a great help to our production capabilities. A critical need right now with a special event we have in the works. More on that as soon as some details are worked out.

Stay tuned!

Early on in this process Ryan told me that he wanted to use some of his money to support charity. After much discussion over the last few weeks around our house Ryan has now decided on some charities that he plans to support. He has selected three charitable organizations to help with a variety of reasons for each one. It is a lofty goal that we will work towards together. Stay tuned, we may ask for your help along the way!

First is Toys for Tots Syracuse NY. This was an obvious fit for Ryan and he liked the idea right away. His reason for choosing Toys for Tots was very simple. “They give toys to little kids that might not have any.” Ryan would like to provide some of his Easy Builder building block sets to Toys for Tots for distribution this holiday season. Although there is no local office for Toys for Tots in the Binghamton area, we may have some interesting plans in the works to facilitate Ryan’s donation.

Next on his list to support is the SOS Shelter here in Binghamton, NY. The SOS Shelter provides emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence in our community. Ryan learned of this organization from his mother as she explained that she has made donations to them in the past. He has a natural sense of empathy for all kinds of people in need and seemed to feel a connection here knowing of his mother’s previous support. Like Toys for Tots, Ryan plans to provide some of his Easy Builder building block sets to the SOS Shelter for the benefit of those families with children who find themselves in the care of the shelter. As he put it to me, “They need toys in case they left all their toys behind when they left their house”.

And last but most certainly not least is the United Way of Broome County. This may be the toughest one to manage some support for in that this will be monetary support. As such it will require that Work Builders become financially successful in order to facilitate making a donation. We are working on that! What attracts Ryan to the United Way is that, “They help lots of different charities”. That pretty much says it all.

Now I’ll put on my proud Dad cap and say I could not be more proud of Ryan for his sincere interest in helping others. This has given us great opportunities to discuss and learn about how fortunate we are as a family and how we can help others in our community. I will also repeat for the sake of clarity that this plan to support charity truly originates with Ryan. Where he gets this I can’t know. At his age I was probably most worried about which toy to play with next or picking on my younger brother. Although he does have his moments with his younger brother, in so many ways he amazes me on a daily basis!

Update: Ryan’s story is scheduled to air on Thurs. Nov. 19, 10:00pm news broadcast.

Today we had a special visitor at our house, Chris Whalen a reporter for FOX 40 WICZ TV here in Binghamton, NY. Chris was here this morning to capture some more video and get some interview footage with both Ryan and I. Fox 40 is planning a story which will run sometime in early November about Ryan and his Easy Builder building block business.

Ryan was excited to have the reporter here and to have a chance to tell people about his business. Chris captured video of Ryan and I working on some building block sets, cutting wood, sanding and painting the blocks and finally putting them into their muslin bags for delivery. Then he spent a little time interviewing me followed by Ryan.

I’ve been second guessing everything I said in the course of that interview ever since, but I think it went ok. Ryan did great with his interview answering questions and showing his excitement for the whole project. It’s a difficult thing for a 6 year old to handle something like that and I felt good about how well he did.

Now I am left with an odd feeling not knowing how their story will come across after they have edited the footage and put their spin on the story. I am used to being on the other side of the camera and being in control of that side of the equation. It is a daunting feeling to have the presentation of Ryan’s story now out of my hands or control. I am sure they will do a great job, but I have to concede that I will not be comfortable with it until I’ve seen the final result. (fingers are crossed…)

Around the house, I always joke with my wife about who gets the most media notice. Her work puts her in that position from time to time and I have had my moments occasionally in the past. But now Ryan is on track to muddy the waters in that regard. Why not. Go Ryan, go!

As soon as we know when Ryan’s story will air on Fox 40 WICZ I will mention it here so you can catch it if you are interested.

Today was a good day for Ryan and his building block business. Today he received real payments and more than one! I had been concerned that over time his enthusiasm would fade since up until now he had not received any actual payments for his delivered Easy Builder building blocks. His till of funds from the Lemonade Stand earlier this year was dry and closing the financial end of his dealings wasn’t happening for reasons previously mentioned here.

Finally, Ryan has seen some money come in and he was delighted! He received a check in the mail from an out of town order, some cash from two local sales and even an online order through his WorkBuilders.com Web site. His face lit up when he got home and learned of these developments through the day.

What I found interesting though, was that after he took some time to do the math and add up the cash received, his next move was to go straight to his cash box and deposit it there. Once again as earlier, he isn’t saying a thing about how he might want to use the money. No requests to buy toys, or candy or games. Maybe he is a money “saver” and that’s the way it is. Time will tell I suppose.

Today’s receipts are not enough to pull us out of the red numbers if you are looking at the books, but they do at least demonstrate for Ryan that this is not a one sided deal. I have not decided yet if or when I might talk with him more about the two sides of the ledger and where we stand in that regard. I think he does have a feeling for the reality of that, but this is no time to dampen his spirits. It was a good day for Work Builders (Ryan’s company name).