How Creative Can You Get?

Have you heard the story of The Crayon Initiative?

It’s a beautiful tale, emerging from a willingness to ask a question and then to follow the response to the very end. It was founded by a father who asked a simple question:

What happens to crayons at restaurants when customers are finished with them?

The answer? Discarded. Thrown away. Trashed. Sent to the bin. Destined for a life in the landfill.

The father considered the life cycle of the restaurant crayon to be much too short, for there was so much coloring to be had with those unused crayons. So what did he do? He asked other questions.

Who could be in need of crayons? And what could they be used for?

He found answers: children’s hospitals and children’s therapy.

Sure, there were adjustments that had to be made to the crayons. The Crayon Initiative collects what-would-have-been discarded crayons, melts the crayon (to remove bacteria and to redesign), reshapes and remolds the molten crayon to be suited for a child in a hospital bed, and then delivers the crayons to the hospitals.

It all started with a willingness to ask some questions: What could this be used for? Who could use it?

There are resources floating around, veiled not by our eyes but by our vision. These resources are often associated with statements like “old” or “used” or even “that’s just the way it is”.

Yet, thousands of items in need are the very things that are being discarded. Bed frame for a toddler? One couple turned their neighbor’s curbside deposit into a much-needed gift. You can read more about this occurrence in our blog Reaping Up Before the Joneses. Dresser for a teenage girl? For sale at the local estate sale. Add a little color and you’ve got a HGTV-ready gift for a family in need. You may even be able to ask her what color she wants: wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to invest in someone’s life! Need a ladder to meet fire safety code? One Care Portal user simply went to Lowe’s to ask for a donation, and she received it!

Oh, Lord, may we be blessed with that eyes that see!

What could this be used for?

Just start there.

To learn more, please visit careportal.org