For Him and Them by Dean Cowles, YPN President

A monthly message from YouthPartnersNET President Dean Cowles.

For Him and Them by Dean Cowles

May 2006

Did you know the T-Shirt you're wearing or will be soon could help reduce juvenile crime and increase prevention?

At YouthPartnersNET we're always looking for ways and ministries that inspire youth to stay off the streets and become productive through work, volunteer service, and community worship. Your gifts helped make that possible for some kids who now run a T-Shirt business called "Scribble Ink".

For Him and Them

YPN recently gave a matching grant to one of our Denver partners, thanks to faithful donors like you. Part of their program is a youth business - run and operated by their youth. A silkscreen machine was donated and these entrepreneur kids were off and running. With some help from adult mentors, they designed a business plan, came up with a marketing strategy and began to hit the streets, this time with clipboard and T-Shirt samples in hand.

YPN put them in touch with one of our national network partnerships. Before long these students acquired their first major contract for 500 shirts. Cheryl and I had some of their leaders over for dinner last month and they told me the rest of this wonderful story.

Like all successful businesses, the teens had to negotiate a contract, figure out their costs, time, and materials and present a competitive bid, which isn't easy these days with so many T-Shirt businesses sending their orders overseas to "sweatshops". Sure enough they got the contract and began screening T-Shirts every afternoon after school. Due to the fact that their youth room is still under construction, waiting for funds to finish it, they had to drive 60 miles round trip where the silkscreen machine is housed for now in the mentors' basement. Sometimes they don't get back home until late at night driving this old church van with bald tires and packed to the max.

I was amazed with their story as they told me the sacrifices they make to make this business a success. When I asked if they've made any profits, the smile on their faces grew real big. "Yea, we sure have. So far we've made $3600 profit and we want to do more."

I congratulated them and encouraged them to keep it up. So if you have a need for T-Shirts this summer for a church/community recreation league or other event, call Scribble Ink at 303-922-8772. Or if you'd like to make a special gift through YouthPartnersNET to help with those tires or finish off the youth room, let us know or feel free to call me at 720-280-2606.

Who knows, I may get a free T-Shirt from the referral. But then again my wife who is reading over my shoulder is saying, "No way Dean. You have a drawer full of T-Shirts and you need to give half of those to the clothing room at their church."

For Him and Them,

Dean Cowles

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