Week 12: Practicum Hours with The Barnabas Network

This part of the semester, as we are not having class and everything is beginning to come to an end more quickly than most have anticipated, has been spent working with The Barnabas Network. This week, so far, Nickie Young and myself found some free time and spent this time passing out fliers to people in the community. These fliers had basic information about The Barnabas Network and talked about the service they provided to the community, that of picking up gently used furniture to be recycled into their furniture bank. Nickie and myself aimed our flier distribution through some of the most lucrative neighborhoods. As we were walking down one street we came across an older couple. Immediately they asked "OK-so what are you selling?" We were shocked by this, and they were even more shocked to learn we were actually offering a service to them.

It is amazing to think of the impact that many non profits would have if they had the resources to get their name out there a little more. As with many non-profits- The Barnabas Network- has had to concentrate on maintaining what they have instead of spending money on marketing or any expansion at all. This is where we come in. We are aiming to put fliers all over Greensboro. This is a large task. We have fliers which are catered toward hanging in a public place with tear off phone numbers, and then there are those for individuals and mailboxes. We are also asking churches to think about letting their congregations know about the non-profit. We asked for money if they had some to give or if they felt led, but also just prayer support, volunteers, and even just to keep them in mind when getting rid of their old furniture!

While our efforts seem small, I am hoping that our work will lead to a greater awareness in the community overall. Hopefully Barnabas will have to be turning away furniture because they have no where left to store it all!