How Covid-19 Forced Us to Change Our Outlook

 

It was March 2020 when the entire world and its ecosystem started to crumble by the devastating pandemic, the time when we realized that keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe is the priority, even if it meant total social isolation, confinement, and compromised mental wellbeing.

The world’s economy was severely impacted. People were forced to leave their jobs; the worst hit were the minimum wage earners from low-income families. For them, the lockdown was scarier than the Covid-19 disease itself because even if the disease spared them, hunger would certainly not.

The government’s help was never enough to make ends meet. Charitable organizations worldwide were also bearing the brunt, as they were participating in relief work in one way or other, lack of resources, funding, and manpower was crippling. Sustainability was the big question and the need of the hour was keeping themselves afloat.

Adapt, Adjust, and Overcome.

 For every organization, it was imperative to change the strategies and objectives. Adapting to the “new normal” and developing a sustainable defense mechanism to overcome the setbacks was important. For non-profits, it was about making changes to their current strategies, thinking beyond individual goals, and coming together collectively as the responsible community partners for the welfare of people. It was almost impossible for a single organization to arrange a fundraising/ donation event while the demand for relief was rising. The most feasible solution was a collaboration.

Coming Together for the First Time, a Collaboration that Exceeded All the Expectations

For Global paint for Charity (GPC), collaborating with Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity, and Lutheran Church of Resurrection (LCR) turned out to be one of the best decisions during the pandemic.

Inspired by GPCs noble mission and previous paint drive initiatives, John Oshberg, one of the Coalition’s directors and a member of the Lutheran Church of Resurrection (LCR), decided to contact the organization. Over the next few days, Rony Delgarde, the founder and CEO of Global Paint & John Osherberg, discussed the strategies and the objectives for a paint/ donation drive event realizing that such a collaboration could be a win-win-win for everyone.

The outcome was wonderful, the four-hour event was a great way for the partner organizations to get rid of their old paint in an efficient, cost-effective, and environment-friendly way while supporting a good cause. For GPC, apart from receiving the donations, it was also a great opportunity for cross-promotion and developing a life-long connection with the organizations that share the same mission of serving the community.

Oshberg happily recalls the memories from the event;

“The money raised went to the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity to help a truly deserving family build a new home, and the donated gallons of paint were shipped to countries where many truly need, but cannot afford, to paint for their houses. Last year’s paint drive exceeded my expectations on so many measures. Donors repeatedly told us that they sincerely appreciated being able to conveniently get rid of their nuisance (old paint) and have it go to such important causes.”

During the paint drive, a total of $805.00 was raised for the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity, and about 200 gallons of paint were collected for Global Paint.

The paint collected by Global Paint was shipped to Honduras, Guatemala, and Ghana.

2021 Paint Drive, the Perfect Collaboration Continues

 Due to the huge success of the 2020 paint drive, this year a two-day paint drive event was hosted in May 2021. This time, members of the Lutheran Church of Resurrection (LCR) teamed up with members of six other churches. During the event, the Lutheran Community in the Metro Atlanta area was able to raise $4,500 for the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity and collect 1,402.25 gallons of paint for Global Paint for Charity (GPC).

Like the 2020 paint drive, the money raised went to the Lutheran Coalition to help build the home of a deserving family; and the paint collected was donated to Global Paint to support its mission of bringing color to the underprivileged communities.

For the event, the churches rented out a large box truck that traveled to each location, collecting the donated paint. By the end of the second day, the truck delivered a total of 101 buckets, 747 cans, 453 quarts, and 14 miscellaneous containers of latex paint to Global Paint’s warehouse in Norcross, Georgia.

Collaboration is the Solution

 During unprecedented times such as this, collaborations help the organizations spread awareness and help reduce the burden greatly by sharing the resources, manpower, and infrastructure facilities. Organizations can get much-needed exposure through partner's networks.

The pandemic made it particularly difficult for churches and nonprofits to get funds/ donations through their regular sources. The financial impact the Covid-19 virus had on the world is so profound that it forced communities to come together for the greater good and organizations to restructure to be sustainable

To learn more about the Lutheran Coalition or LCR, click on the following links: https://lutheranhabitat.org/ and https://lcrmarietta.org/ or reach out to John Oshberg at josberg@informedpartners.com.

Or to learn more about Global Paint or how you can host your own paint drive, visit us at  https://www.globalpaints.org/organize/ or contact us at (855) 853-7772 or info@globalpaints.org