Ramp-A-Thon - Page 5 - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

WarriorWithWood · 01-03-2009, 11:54 AM

Hey mac,
Excellent job, that's got to feel great! . Here's a direct link http://www.kval.com/news/36983374.html?video=YHI&t=a to the video. I think i have a way to get the video for you, give me a little bit to check on it.

**BuiltByMAC** · 01-05-2009, 01:38 AM

Hey guys,
Seth's back from vacation and working on the website. I asked those who signed up to send him their company info so we can put together a list of builders.

I was unable to send PM's to the following members (prob. due to their low post count), so would you guys ...
BSmart
bvs
Rick954
Paramount Cont.
barnbuilder1

...email Seth (seth@dragithome.com) the following information?

We need
1. your name
2. your company name
3. your location (city,state)
4. your website address

I'll need the following info as well - not necessarily to go on the website, but in case I need to contact you directly.

5. Your email address
6. Your phone number

This is where the commitment becomes solid. It's nice to have feel-good reactions on a thread like this...what I need now is your company info and your solid commitment to make this happen. I will do everything in my power to help make your project happen smoothly...as I've said before, this project is VERY doable. Not a difficult thing at all - let's make it happen.
Thanks, everyone. When the dust settles, this will have made a HUGE difference for some very deserving folks...

Mac

MALCO.New.York · 01-05-2009, 04:19 AM

...................

Rick954 · 01-06-2009, 03:16 PM

hi, i'm not sure if i got a pm or not, i dont know where to look on this site yet. still new to me.

i've been pretty busy the last few weeks, and my wife is in surgery as we speak so i havent checked the posts here till today.

i'll get my info over to seth for ya though, and as an update, i have several people at work interested in doing this project with me, so, as soon as i find the person that needs one, and figure out how we're aquiring our materials, we should have absolutly no problem making it happen.

doubleaction · 01-06-2009, 04:39 PM

Alright im about 75% sure i am in. I have no work right now. Meaning no income. But i have about a bazillion joist hangers, about 20 16' 4x4 and some other treated lumber. I have build a few ramps. But i do mostly decks and i enjoy doing the. With not having any work right now i cant front any materials i don't have. So the other 25% of me being involved is finding someone that is willing to donate the materials. I am going to look for a supply, or other option for material and keep you guys updated. This is a great idea. I am tired of sitting around with no work. And if anyone is close to me and wanna team up i am a one man army so i would be willing to work with someone else.

doubleaction · 01-06-2009, 05:17 PM

Anyone have any luck with the united way helping out?

doubleaction · 01-06-2009, 08:25 PM

I have been looking at information for the last few hours. Whats the best way of going about finding someone in need?

Rick954 · 01-06-2009, 10:39 PM

what with the war going on, i was thinking i'd get in touch with the local VFW, DAV, or American Legion.

DAV = Disabled American Veterans, i was thinking that would be the best start, gotta find out if they already have some program that covers the cost of their ramps and other needs though, i'd rather do it for someone that cant afford it, so if there is a program that pays for theirs, i'll let them continue to do that, and i'll find someone that doesnt have other means of getting one

if possible anyway, if not i'll do it for whomever needs it

**BuiltByMAC** · 01-07-2009, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doubleaction

I have been looking at information for the last few hours. Whats the best way of going about finding someone in need?

If you'll look through this thread and the two threads linked at the top of this thread, you should get several ideas of where to start looking for recipients. In addition, when the website is up and running, there will be a page on it of ideas for finding recipients.

Disabled and Senior Services - state gov't dept
charitable organization that helps the poor and/or disabled - St. Vincent de Paul or similar
Veteran's Center
your church
Children's Disease Organizations - Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis
etc.

What you're looking for is NOT a long list of possibles, you want the organization you're dealing with to come up w/ a short list or possibly pick the recipient for you. You're going to be part of a collaborative effort of local organizations to make this project happen.

Charitable organization picks the deserving recipient,
Your local lumberyard (whom you do a majority business w/) can help w/ donating materials or discounting them,
You provide the labor and organizational skills to pull the project off,
a local bank or credit union or business group or church assoc. or non-profit group, etc, etc. might have money to put towards the materials,
your local media can be contacted to do a story on the event,
you, or your crew, shows up, builds it to a minimum of our specs, cleans up the jobsite, presents it to the family, speaks about it on the news.

Rick, I hope your wife's surgery went well and she's safely recuperating...

Mac

LNG24 · 01-07-2009, 01:09 AM

Hey All, I don't know anyone who needs one, but if you do and they are in Northern Westchester, Putnam or Dutchess County, NY or in or around the Lake St. Cathrine area of Vt. I will gladly build one.

Rick954 · 01-07-2009, 08:44 AM

she's recovering nicely, still in the hospital for a few more days, but she's doing as good as you can hope to be doing right after a major surgery.

thanks =)

doubleaction · 01-07-2009, 09:37 AM

When e-mailing different organizations what the best way to describe RAT. I have been including ramp-a-thon.com website to try and explain it better. But is there a different website that would explain the program better? With my ADD i cant type for to long before i start jumping around.

**BuiltByMAC** · 01-07-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doubleaction

When e-mailing different organizations what the best way to describe RAT. I have been including ramp-a-thon.com website to try and explain it better.

Give us a couple of weeks to get the website dialed in - I'm hoping Seth can get the basic site up sometime this week. From there, I can dial in the different pages to get all the info set up online.
Then, you'll have a decent overview of what we're doing and your organizations can see how it's all set up.

Thanks for your patience,

Mac

doubleaction · 01-07-2009, 11:48 AM

good deal, thanks

Greg Di · 01-07-2009, 11:55 AM

I am embarrassed to say that I completely missed this whole thread. I just read all five pages and am thrilled to see the enthusiasm everyone is putting in.

I would like to be a part of this immediately. My father is very connected with HomesForOurTroops.org so I would like to start by asking them for a recipient. If they don't have anyone with an immediate need, our good friends have a daughter in the Make-a-Wish program, so I will find someone through them at MAW.

I'm sure I'll be able to get materials donated easily. Even if there are costs involved, I will ask my fire department and Lions Club to pick up the slack for a good cause!

Count me in!

BlakeS · 01-07-2009, 12:20 PM

Cole,
Today is the first time I've been on this site and when I read about the ramp-a-thon I couldnt register fast enough. What a great idea, not only from helping someone who needs it side, but also from the good for us and or businesses side. Count me in. Please post details as they become available. Blake

**Cole** · 01-07-2009, 12:21 PM

Added new members:
A W Smith
BreyerConstruct
LNG24
Greg Di
Bonesaw
JF
BlakeS

Thanks for coming on board fellas, this is what contractortalk is all about!

Greg Di · 01-07-2009, 12:40 PM

Thanks Cole.

It's icing today, so I am home blasting out emails to get the process going and find a local ramp recipient.

This is a great way to stay productive during the slow season.

Can someone post a transparent PNG or GIF of the RAT logo? I want to add a section to my new site immediately. I assume we are linking to ramp-a-thon.com for now?

Bone Saw · 01-07-2009, 03:04 PM

Mac & Seth, I added some links in my site to rat which will be helpfull for the potential reciepient on my site unaware of rat, check it out and let me know if it is ok.
Seth it would be great to have a component to the site to register and have a search by zip/region by which a registered contractor/vendor could be contacted via/by rat additionally making it easier and more streamlined to solicit to a potential contributor and media purposes

**BuiltByMAC** · 01-07-2009, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bone Saw

Seth it would be great to have a component to the site to register and have a search by zip/region by which a registered contractor/vendor could be contacted via/by rat additionally making it easier and more streamlined to solicit to a potential contributor and media purposes

We're actually not going to take applications through the website. I want contractors to go through local organizations to find their recipients. For this project, I don't want contractors to be looking over all the apps, calling to determine if the info on the apps is accurate, and trying to make sure that the recipient really is without funds.

The website is designed more for contractors to find information to put together their ramp project. There are many organizations out there who specialize in dealing w/ the folks we'll be building for, I'd like them to do the legwork on finding recipients for us.

Hopefully, that makes sense... I just want to guarantee that every project gets built. Culling a deserving recipient from a stack of apps is not our area of expertise, building an awesome ramp is!

I am thinking carefully about the future of this endeavor. Just because something doesn't happen this year, does not mean it won't ever happen.

For now, regarding the links on your guys' websites to RAT, use them to show what you yourself are involved in but not to encourage people who want a ramp to visit the RAT website. We're not set up to handle such requests and I don't want to get anyone's hopes up.

Thanks, guys,

Mac