Blessing Board

Last week, rich Garland from the Blessing Board spoke to our class.  He told his story of how he got to where he is today.  He was a political science and philosophy.  However, he ended up in insurance because that was where he could find a job.  Mr. Garland started a bulletin board in his church.  This bulletin board was all about “giving a blessing” and “getting a blessing.”  This idea blew up in a month.  People were donating and people in need were getting what they needed.  This inspired the Blessing Board.  In 2010, the Blessing Board incorporated.  They will receive over 400 requests per month, but they can only fill 150.  The Blessing Board will do days of blessing where they will fill ten trucks full of furniture.  They are a Christian company and will pray with the people that come in and will treat them respectfully.

However, Mr. Garland shared that they are struggling to recruit volunteers.  Many of their current volunteers are of retirement age, and the Blessing Board needs younger and more volunteers.  Therefore, in class, we brainstormed ways to get younger people, college-aged students, involved.  We thought about doing a large day of service.  A big struggle for college students is transportation.  They do not want to drive to Pittsburgh (and spend gas money) or have no way of getting there.  This means that on this serve day, transportation would encourage students.  We also discussed having it count for a chapel credit and providing food for students.  To get volunteers, you have to feed into them and help them to understand the impact of their work and make sure they know that you are thankful for them.