Help Needed for a Great Cause!

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dntrost

dntrost

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
900
Location
N. Myrtle Beach South Carolina
My wife and I have been very active in working with mentally-challenged adults for over 20 years. The clients of New Danville are higher functioning, those with mental retardation and related conditions such as Autism or traumatic head injuries resulting from strokes or accidents, Down Syndrome, Aspergers, etc. I am on the Board of Directors and have been the jack of all trades when they need something fixed or built.
Once I started my pen making addiction the founder of this non-profit had an idea that this was something we could teach the clients to do. The goal of our organization is to help these adults live independently and develop skills to help them be productive in their community and to generate their own income.
We have just secured a shop and some donated tools (many of my own that I have duplicates of) However, we are still in need of many more supplies and tools. Below is a list of what we need, I figured there are so many good hearted people on this site I would put out a call for donations and see how we do. We are a 501(C)3 so we can provide receipts for anyone needing a tax deduction. If shipping is an issue I will personally pay for all shipping. I truly believe in this vision we have for New Danville. I had 3 of the clients over to the house to make pens, they were father's day gifts, they were so proud of what they made, this develops their self confidence like you wouldn't believe. Our plan is to start training on the first of August. Below is the list of the item's we will need to get them started.

Needed:
Blank Drilling Vise
Pen Press
Turning Tools
Pen Kits
Blanks
Bushings
Pen Mandrels
All of the consumables (glue, micromesh, sand paper)
Also if there are any Houstonians that would like to volunteer to help teach we would love to have you! Just PM me if interested.

Attached is a link to our website (which needs updating but we are non-profit :frown:)
http://www.newdanville.org/

Again thanks for reading this and anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated.


Update I received a Anonymous donation offering to match any and all gift certificates up to $500.00 WOW! So if you would like to get a 2 for 1 deal please post and I will keep track of this goal!
Update Wednesday:
So far we have received a total of $375 in gift certificates which will be matched! Thanks to everyone who has donated!:banana::bananen_smilies008:
Attached is a picture of "Jimmy" making a pen for his dad.


Thanks in advance!

Dion Trost
8981 Crighton Crossing Dr
Conroe, Texas 77302
 

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Dion,

I'll put together a small kit of stuff for you (blanks, glue, etc). Could you use a bench top drill press? My wife is driving through Conroe on August 6th and would like to deliver. Please advise.

Thanks for what you do.
Tom
 
What a great cause!!!:biggrin:

Pick a vendor of your choice and I'll paypal them for a gift voucher to buy some small stuff of your choice. ( you can PM me your vendor choice if you wish ):wink:
 
Dion, your chosen vendor should email you the GV. Let me know if there is any problem.:wink:
I used the email address and postal address from your first post.
 
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Dion

I don't know if my wife will be willing since she will be quite pregnant when she is in Houston but I'll ask her. She loves making pens and loves teaching, plus she recently volunteered for the Special Olympics and had a great time helping. If anything it would be a good way to get her out of the house. I'll let you know.

Ty
 
Dion , I have a pen press from PSI . If you can straighten the bracket the piston slides thru (which I don't think is a big deal) I'll include it in the package . Let me know .
 
Sorry about that- I missed your address in the original post. I am blonde what can I say.

PM me your address Dion and I will put a package together.
 
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Dion
If your voice is back call me tonight after six i think i can hook you up with drill press. I also have some other thing's that you might be able to use.
 
Wow very cool Dion. I'm impressed with what you folks are doing out there. You are absolutely correct that it develops their self confidence like you wouldn't believe. I suffered a traumatic brain injury back in 2004. I was mugged and in this case unfortunately I put up a fight. I didn't see the 3/4" pipe that caved in my skull, which left me permanently disabled. I have very poor short term memory among a long list other issues. The great thing about short term memory loss is everything is new again... and again...

Because I am a higher functioning adult, my disability is hard for most people to notice thanks to places like New Danville. I've learned compensating skills which allow me to lead a somewhat normal life. Early on in the recovery process I was a mess, but the wonderful people at my rehab facility worked hard with me over the years to build me back to the person I am today. I'm not the same person I used to be by a long shot, but I am truly blessed with what I've been given. I can personally appreciate the work y'all are doing there.

I have a spare pen vise around here somewhere. That short term memory thing again. :biggrin: I'll see what I can find and get some stuff shipped your way. I'll also PM you to get your email address and send a PSI e-gift card your way. Keep doing what you're doing out there. You're making a real impact in some peoples lives. People just like me.
 
Lanman said:
Wow very cool Dion. I'm impressed with what you folks are doing out there. You are absolutely correct that it develops their self confidence like you wouldn't believe. I suffered a traumatic brain injury back in 2004. I was mugged and in this case unfortunately I put up a fight. I didn't see the 3/4" pipe that caved in my skull, which left me permanently disabled. I have very poor short term memory among a long list other issues. The great thing about short term memory loss is everything is new again... and again...

Because I am a higher functioning adult, my disability is hard for most people to notice thanks to places like New Danville. I've learned compensating skills which allow me to lead a somewhat normal life. Early on in the recovery process I was a mess, but the wonderful people at my rehab facility worked hard with me over the years to build me back to the person I am today. I'm not the same person I used to be by a long shot, but I am truly blessed with what I've been given. I can personally appreciate the work y'all are doing there.

I have a spare pen vise around here somewhere. That short term memory thing again. :biggrin: I'll see what I can find and get some stuff shipped your way. I'll also PM you to get your email address and send a PSI e-gift card your way. Keep doing what you're doing out there. You're making a real impact in some peoples lives. People just like me.
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Wow what can I say we love what we do and hearing a story like this brings tears to my eyes! I am so glad you are able to tell your story and I am just overwelmed by the reponses even in these hard times...
 
Great Cause Dion, I will have to go clean my shop this afternoon and see what I can land in a box for you. As a side note, before I bought my house we had a young man living at the other end of our apartment building that was in just this sort of program. He was pretty well completely independent, with a job, his own apartment, with someone that checked in on him a couple times a week. He sort of got attached to my wife and I so they asked if we woudl be basically his "safe haven". If he ever got worried or needed some place to go he was free at all times to come knock on our door. once a week or so he would come over and just visit. I miss him very much. He was our best neighbor, the way neighbors used to be.
 
Daniel said:
Great Cause Dion, I will have to go clean my shop this afternoon and see what I can land in a box for you. As a side note, before I bought my house we had a young man living at the other end of our apartment building that was in just this sort of program. He was pretty well completely independent, with a job, his own apartment, with someone that checked in on him a couple times a week. He sort of got attached to my wife and I so they asked if we woudl be basically his "safe haven". If he ever got worried or needed some place to go he was free at all times to come knock on our door. once a week or so he would come over and just visit. I miss him very much. He was our best neighbor, the way neighbors used to be.
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Thanks Daniel they are special people with special needs each unique and with something to offer us all!
 
Hey Dion,
I just sent you an e-gift card from PSI. It should arrive in your email very soon. It contains a PIN number that you can use like a credit card to shop on-line from their site.

Thanks!
Dave
 
Lanman said:
Hey Dion,
I just sent you an e-gift card from PSI. It should arrive in your email very soon. It contains a PIN number that you can use like a credit card to shop on-line from their site.

Thanks!
Dave
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Thank you very much David and as I posted on the first page one of our members has offered to match all gift card donations up to $500 he asked to remain anonymous which I have agreed to do.
Again Thanks to everyone.
 
Hello, I would like to help but wood is about all i could help with.I see many are donating wood so I don't want to over run you with wood.Please let me know if you still need blanks?I could send one of my variety boxes out that have about 140 blanks with 25-30 different types.Like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260438472432
I have lots of woods and that auction shows most of what I have so maybe you want only easy woods to turn?Like maple/cherry.Or you may need bigger blanks like 7/8".Please just let me know if I can help with some wood.You people are stand up folks,and I love to see the IAP jump up and do so much.This is just nice to see in this fast paced world when everyone seems to be out for them selves.Let me just say Thank You for what you do,Victor
 
Dion send me your full name and email address and I`ll set up an online gift card for Penn State Industries, glad to help your cause as I am a higher functioning adult following an accident in 2001. I attend a day centre most days similar to the one you have.

www.caledoniaclubhouse.co.uk
 
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Ligget said:
Dion send me your full name and email address and I`ll set up an online gift card for Penn State Industries, glad to help your cause as I am a higher functioning adult following an accident in 2001. I attend a day centre most days similar to the one you have.

www.caledoniaclubhouse.co.uk
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Thank You Mark! We really appreciate everything everyone on this site has done!
 
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