ASB Denver started the morning at Bud's Warehouse, a very unique type of hardware store. We met the manager, Andy, who told us quite a bit about Bud's and its mission. Bud's collects hardware donations from contractors and community members and then sells them (much like a Home Depot combined with Goodwill). The business side of Bud's is rather clear cut – bring things in, recycle what you can, sell everything you can. The more important side of Bud's lies in who they employ. Bud's Warehouse isn't a warehouse run by Bud…shocking, we know. Instead, BUDS stands for 'Building Unity through Dignity and Service.' The way they build this unity is by employing the typically 'unemployable'. That means that when they sort through applications they are looking for what most employers would consider the worst applicants. In many cases, these are people straight out of prison who would otherwise be unable to secure a job, putting them right back behind bars. The more intense your background, the better; Bud's employees do much more than work. They take a class every morning to develop their career skills: everything from forklift certification and personal finance to customer service and job experience. After spending six months to a year working at Bud's, employees have gained a skill set, items for their resumes, and references to put on applications. Of the employees who graduate Bud's program, 84% find long-term jobs. Bud's is also affiliated with many other organizations with the same mission—a laundromat, a cleaning service, a company that breaks down old mattresses (did you know over 90% of a mattress is recyclable?), and soon they'll be opening a coffee shop. Talk about impressive.
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| Getting a tour at Bud's |
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| Oops... |
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| Working together to move some pipe |
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| Taking a quick break |
When we get down to the math of Bud's it's quite simple:
more donations = more potential profit
more organized lot/store = more likely that customers will purchase
more profit = ability to hire more employees
more ability to hire = fewer people on the streets of Denver.
That's where we come in.
After learning about the organization we lathered on the sunscreen (lesson learned from Day One…) and journeyed to the outdoor lot that stores everything from toilets and tubs to picnic tables and PVC piping. Andy put us to work without a hesitation. We started with mattresses. Move, organize. Then the wood. Move, pile. Then medium sized PVC pipe. Move, sort, stack. Then trash. Assemly line, pick up, pass, toss (TIMES A HUNDRED BILLION). After lunch we finished the trash then moved on to the large PVC pipe. Roll, load, carry, drop, pick up, stack, slide, repeat. After organizing one last section (a random assortment of pipes and steel A-frames) we called it a day. Exhausted and dirty we said our good byes to the team and loaded into vehicles. Needless to say, we were ready to rest up, but, more importantly, we were proud of what we accomplished.
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| Before |
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| During |
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| After! |
After a long day of hard work, we headed back to our temporary home. After dining on homemade tacos and nachos around the dinner table, we treated ourselves to a night on the town. By on the town we mean the movie theatre, of course! After what felt like years of waiting, our group got to see The Hunger Games tonight. The odds were definitely in our favor.
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| ASB Denver out for a night on the town |
You know what I mean?
Denver ASB, 2012
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