“One human can change the course of human history – all it takes is the right idea, at the right time, in the right place. And the right place is where you stand at present, the right time is right this very moment and the right idea is the one that defines your existence the best.”
Abhijit Naskar
It’s crazy to think that there is only a month left in the semester. I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to do a semester in Denver because it has given me so many experiences and chances to meet people from all over that I would not have had otherwise.
Last week I had the opportunity to help with an event during my internship. Denver Rescue Mission has partnered with many different organizations throughout the country to help serve our guests and participants. This last week two companies, Generous Coffee and Sackcloth & Ashes, did a blanket drop and coffee donation.
Generous Coffee is a for-purpose coffee company founded by Drew Scholl and Ben Higgins. When they founded the for-profit company, they decided that they were going to call it for-purpose instead. The money that they earn through their sales of coffee beans, merchandise, and in their coffee shop, which is located in Golden, Colorado, is given to nonprofit organizations around the country to help in more ways than one company could alone. One of the biggest needs at Denver Rescue Mission is always coffee. All the shelters combine use an average of 200 gallons of coffee a day. Because of this need and the desire to help a local non-profit, Generous Coffee made a coffee donation and served coffee to our guests during the lunch period on Tuesday, March 21. Everyone I met from the team is incredible and has a heart to serve people all around the world. And fun fact: for those of you who are like me and had no idea, Ben Higgins was on the show The Bachelor, so I guess I met a famous person. That was not really the point though. Everyone who drank some said that it was incredible. If you are in the market to try some new coffee, I would highly recommend buying some from Generous Coffee. You can get your daily coffee fix while also being part of something much bigger and helping people all over the world.
Sackcloth & Ashes was founded by Bob Dalton after his mother ended up on the streets in 2013. Shelters all around the country are always in need of blankets; so, Bob decided to start a company where for every blanket sold, another is donated to a local homeless shelter. And when I say local, I mean local to you the buyer. The blankets are sustainably made from recycled materials and do not use any new dyes, making it even more planet friendly. Currently they are doing a campaign called “Blanket the United States.” The goal is to donate one million blankets to homeless shelters by 2024. For the blanket drop at Denver Rescue Mission, they donated 1,000 blankets to our guests at our community center and at the shelters. Sometimes when I hear about companies like these, I wonder how much actually gets done with the second item. Seeing the reality and the heart that Bob has for people helped me realize how important it is for me to work to create a better world. Talking to Bob and Brock, who is the videographer for Sackcloth & Ashes, sparked an interest for me in the work they do. Since then, I have been thinking a lot about my future and what my plans are for after I graduate; this is a company that I would be thrilled to work with. I have said for a long time that I do not know what I want to do with my career, all I know is I want to help people, and this is a company where I could do that. Again, I am going to promote them too. They have so many amazing blankets, even Star Wars designs if you are into that! And it truly makes it worth spending the money on them knowing that you are not only getting a really cool blanket, but you are also helping someone else in need.
Meeting people who are changing the world is incredible. They inspire me to follow the one thing I know I want – to help people. It is possible to make a difference in someone’s life that you will never know and I am blessed to have grown up with a lot of privilege. And now, I want to take that privilege and use it to help others, and to make the world a better place for people all over the world. I’ll just have to wait and see how God uses me to make those changes.
Thanks for reading, until next time,
Aurora Franzon 2024