Making Good On Our Promise To The Elderly

Rip Getting The Good Stuff to the Office

After several scheduling snafus, we finally were able to get together and gather the needed items for the tree for the Council on Ageing.  It's a good thing too, because the deadline was drawing near and we needed to get a move-on.

The trip to Costco is a tad away from Volusia County, so we packed up some beverages, A giant Chimay light up sign for Redlight Redlight, and a (we were soon to find out) delicious raspberry moonshine provided by my buddy Brett Maverick.

Getting to Costco was no problem.  Getting into Costco, no problem.  Picking up Depends and Ensure - somewhat awkward.  Of course, this was a big part of why we chose the Council on Ageing to help out this year.  I find an added benefit to charity is that you can arbitrarily put yourself in uncomfortable spots just for the sake of seeing how you will react to the situation.  We did get some funny looks while we were shopping and when Rip asked the person at the counter if they had Gold Bond, we could see all of the people in the pharmacy pointing and talking about us. Who knows - maybe they thought we were shopping for our grandparents.  Maybe they thought we were pulling a prank.  Who knows.

When we took the shopping cart to the front and the cashier started pulling our supplies out of the cart, I did explain to her what was up.  Standing there for the entire time it would take to check out would have been a tad weird, and I didn't want to do that to her.

Out the door and out to the car, we loaded up the supplies and popped open the moonshine that Maverick gave me.  Holy Moly smooth.  I had gotten a bottle of strawberry shine from him in the past and made some great strawberry moonshine frosting for a brownie cake that I made for a party at Davinci's.  That stuff was good.  This stuff - next level.  No burn, no pain, just good.

Heading home, we decided to stop in at Casey's on the Corner for some good grub before we headed to the County Building.  We always get treated well by the folks at Casey's and they are kind enough to have veggie dogs for those of us unfortunate enough to be non meat eaters.  Having a Veggie Chicago Dog at Casey's is one of my favorite things to do in DeLand and it seems extremely appropriate to indulge in such a treat today.  Add to that some beer, and it is a fine day indeed.

We sauntered into Casey's and saw they had Sam Adam's Winter Lager in, so it seemed like a no-brainer.  I ordered the veggie quesadillas (which are unbelievably delicious) and a Veggie Chicago Dog.  Mary at Casey's is always nice about letting me choose the veggies in my quesadillas, so I'm able to switch it up.  And of course, that most delicious of dogs, the Chicago Dog and an MGD to finish it off.

So off to drop off The Good Stuff at the County Building.  As I had documented in a prior post, this was the scene of a gut-wrenching realization to me that there are a massive number of people right under our noses who do not wants bicycles, Apple products, or any other ego-building gift for Christmas.  Many people, I found, just need some necessities to keep them going.  Not an epiphany that I'm particularly proud of.  These facts are staring us in the face all the time - just a moment to stop and witness it gave me some clarity.


Rip and I walk into the County Building and there was a young couple looking at the tree and pulling some of the angels off the tree.  This gave me a good deal of hope.  Being that the tree was not in a very conspicuous spot, the fear was that it would be up and forgotten with little attention paid to it.  Many of the angels that had previously sat on the tree were now gone, a good sign.     

Making the delivery was a great feeling.  Both myself and Rip felt it and we immediately started the inevitable discussion on what it is going to be like to get older and perhaps be left in that same type of situation.  Not a great conversation, but certainly one that concerns all of us from time to time.

As a company, Renegade Reps has yet to realize its full potential.  This year has definitely taught me that charity has to play a major role in our business model in order for us to maintain the momentum we need to keep going.  It is rejuvenating to give and we need that when times get tough and we seem to work a lot for a little bit of gain.  We are discussing of course, the many fundraisers we will do for ARK and I would like to continue to help the elderly.  Personally, I'm considering doing a major walk of some sort.  Something that can provide a challenge both physically and mentally.

Whatever the continuation of our business throws at us, we have given the upcoming year a name.  That name is 2013:  The Year of Good.  Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Cupcakes and Charity

Doing things for other people has a rejuvenating effect on you.  Being a naturally pessimistic person, it helps me on a personal level.  It's also nice to be able to bring beer and animals together.  I find that beer people tend to be dog lovers and it's a natural tie-in to fund raise for animals under the beer platform.  This being said, I had a particularly rejuvenating and inspirational experience this past Saturday.

In addition to my other fun activities, I work with the Cornell Alumni Network to "pre-interview" students in the local area who are applying to Cornell University.  It's fun and I've gotten to meet some really amazing kids.  I was able to meet an applicant this past weekend that I really hope gets into my Alma Mater.

I was notified in plenty of time by the Alumni Network to contact the applicant and completely forgot about the request.  It wasn't until I received a reminder a week before my report was due that I realized that contacted the student and asked if we could meet.  She contacted me back almost immediately and gave some times we could meet.  It was a very busy week for me and my time was very short, so I asked if we could multi-task and meet up at a fund raiser I was doing for The Animal Rescue Konsortium, the animal rescue who we do our charity work with.

The reply I got was awesome.  It read:

Mr. Carpenter,

The fundraiser sounds great! Does 12 pm work for you?

I am a huge advocate for rescue animals, having three myself and certifying one as a therapy dog. On this note, I am the founder of Kate's Charity Cakes, a non-profit organization that sells homemade baked goods and donates 100% of proceeds to different charitable organizations. If you would like, I am willing to bake some animal themed cupcakes that you can sell for your cause. If it wouldn't tie in, since I don't know what is planned, then I look forward to the interview.

Thank you,

Katie Batchelor

What luck!  As it turns out, Miss Katie Batchelor not only offered to do something incredibly kind for ARK, but also gave me a great argument for why she should be admitted into Cornell.

As it turns out, not only did she create delicious pastries to donate for the fundraiser, she completely caught me and everyone else off-guard for the quality of the work.  Each one of the cupcakes she delivered was very highly detailed and were perfect for the occasion.  The cupcakes were unbelievably delicious and the buzz quickly got around the fundraiser about how great they were.  In the end, we sold every one for $5 each!  This is a windfall for ARK, who operate from a very small budget.  Needless to say, Katie's contribution will be felt for a long time.

It is easy to get bogged down in business and not see the kindness all around us.  Again, I have a terrible streak of pessimism that I have to beat out of myself every now and then and re-establish my childhood faith in humanity.  Coming across folks like Katie provides a great aid in doing so.

If anyone would like to show Katie some support, help her with her business, or shoot her a kind note to tell her you appreciate her kindness, her charity's contact info is:

Kate's Charity Cakes

KatesCharityCakes@yahoo.com

Here's to everyone at ARK, to the folks at Davinci for allowing us to hold our fundraiser there, to those who came out to support, and to Katie and her mother for doing such a kind thing for ARK.  Cheers!