Starting off

I have been working at Positive Spin for about five days now and am starting to see what Nick Hein wants to do with the place. Nick's idea of Positive Spin was inspired by Dave Egger's 826 Valencia in San Fransisco. Nick showed me a video you can find by clicking here.

The idea is to kids with their writing in a fun environment with a project called If Wheels Could Talk. The project would start over the Summer and have 3 kids with 3 volunteers in hour long sessions, five days a week. However, Nick wants to replace Egger's idea of a pirate store with a bike shop. I think the bike shop is a great evolution of Egger's. We can get kids being hands on with bikes and teach them about cycling benefits. We also want kids to write about their adventures on a bike so we can publish them in a book and have those profits go towards additional funding.

If Wheels Could Talk solves two growing problems in one, non-profit set up. According to a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2006, 29.4 percent of American children are considered obese. That is over nineteen million children. There has also been a decline of writing skills in schools. Poor writing in elementary schools develop into low grades in high school's, which result in children being less interest in seeking higher education. Without college education, a person's chances of finding a good paying job are greatly diminished.

Without a healthy body, kid's shall be in and out of hospitals constantly and die younger. Without a well paying job, children will not be able to afford the rising costs of health care when they grow older. This could lead to a Morgantown where citizens are fat and poor because they are fat.

To help fund his idea, Nick has me writing a grant proposal to WVU's B&E. They award grants to companies that can benefit Mon County and Morgantown.

I have been writing as much as I can, but Nick has left for Guatemala for two weeks and the proposal is due before he gets back. There also required letters of recommendation and that's something I really need Nick here to help with. I will due want I can, but I don't know anyone to contact to get the letters in time.