November 15, 2016 / in Community Service / by Jason Terry
Author: Jason Terry
Hello friends! I was going to tell you about Grammarly this week, but some things have happened with our “2016 Toilet Paper Drive for Hope House” that I just had to share. I’ll tell you about Grammarly and why I love it in a future post!
If you didn’t see it, last week’s blog post was about kicking off our 2016 Toilet Paper Drive for Hope House. I set a lofty goal of 5,000 rolls because it would make a difference. Would you believe that’s only about a four-month supply based on their normal needs?
If you’ve already stepped up, thank you so much! My jaw dropped a couple of times in the past week because of your generosity. (More on that in a minute.)
To get involved, all you need to do is buy a case of toilet paper on Amazon.com and have it shipped to us at: Blue Gurus, 17001 W. 83rd Terrace, Lenexa, KS 66219. (The product link is just a suggestion, any size/quantity would be great!) Please make sure donations are delivered before Thanksgiving, November 24th. I will post instructions for tax deductible contributions when I share the final results of our collection effort.
There’s something special about broadcasting a call to action… and friends and family answering that call in spades. The blog went out last Tuesday, and a bunch of people emailed to let us know their orders were on the way.
On Friday I was hoping that a bunch of toilet paper was going to show up. The doorbell rang in the morning, and I went to see if it was Amazon dropping off cases of toilet paper. I was really excited!!!
I opened the door, and on the front porch was a tiny package from Amazon. Sad face.
I went back inside and got ready to leave for the day. I gathered up my laptop, keys, wallet, etc. and headed out to my car. I got in my car, opened the garage door and started backing out and noticed that my backup collision sensor wouldn’t stop beeping. I looked in my driver side mirror to make sure I wasn’t going to hit anything, and all I saw was a wall of cardboard boxes. WOW!!! I had fourteen cases (1,180 rolls) of toilet paper stacked in my driveway. #jawdrop
On Tuesday, one week after kicking things off, I got to Home Rental Services for one of our normal sessions together. The day was starting off with a staff meeting, so I wasn’t surprised as I started to walk in that everyone was sitting in chairs in a circle. What surprised me and stopped me in my tracks were the seven cases of toilet paper that made a temporary cubicle around the desk I normally sit at!
Home Rental Services and Neighborhood Handyman had pooled their resources and bought a massive donation of 672 rolls. #jawdrop2
Seriously. I was stunned. You should have seen my face. I am rarely at a loss for words… and I was speechless. It was a total surprise, and it melted my heart that people were willing to go above and beyond to help us make a difference.
And since I originally bought six cases totaling 480 rolls, I needed to buy three more cases taking the Blue Gurus contribution up to 720 rolls. There was no way I could let someone take the title of largest contribution away from us, and in the end, the real winner is Hope House.
I’m looking forward to sharing the final count of TP rolls we’re able to collect for Hope House. Thank you so much to everyone that has already stepped up! And there’s still time to get involved if you can. Thanks!
We've worked with The Blue Gurus for many years, and they've been a great partner in every respect.
Honest, upbeat, knowledgeable, responsive.
They've supported us in four key areas: LinkedIn training, blogging, and web site development--and they have excelled in all three. Their core expertise is in LinkedIn and blogging, but I've found them to have such an excellent network of contacts that often they are able to bring in reliable support in other areas as well. So I consider The Blue Gurus a window into an array of excellent resources for small businesses.
David Scott
Managing Member at Avid Communications
