Running head: ACE PROJECT

ACE Project
Paloma Garcia Duran, Kyle Garrow, Ashley Graham, Sury Hacker, Sophia Jones, Alexis Lopez,
Kali Robinson and Adam Trojacek
Sam Houston State University

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ACE Project
Planning the Project

While touring the Magnolia Friendship Center in the beginning of this semester, Mrs.
Diane, the manager over the facility, showed us the storage/workshop room. In the initial look
over of the room, we could tell it needed significant organization. The room had many dangerous
safety hazards that posed as fall risks and unsturdy furniture that needed to be addressed. Mrs.
Diane explained to our group that the room is used to create crafts that fund and support charities
that impact their community.
Implementation of the Project
On September 1st, our first clinical day, we discussed the issue of organization and
storage. Ms. Diane talked about the issue in the craft/storage room. Within this room, the seniors
sew items for donations, make cancer patient hats, and quilts. The quilt they are currently
working on is to raise money for the Wounded Warrior project. Also, this room is storage for
holiday items, bingo, aprons, bookcase, and area for playing the Wii gaming system. We asked if
we could use a different room for storage, but that was not an option. After analyzing the room
on which we would work, we decided to ask for donations to receive material and buy the
furniture and organizers. In order to collect donations to organize the room, we divided the
Houston-Woodlands-Huntsville areas, depending on the address of the members of the group.
We decided to do rounds on Fridays to collect as many donations as possible from several
places.
On the first round of donation collection, September 4th, Ms. Graham, Ms. Hacker, Ms.
Robinson, and Mrs. Garcia Duran went to The Home Depot, Walmart, Tj Maxx, Sams Club,
and Lowe's in Shenandoah and The Woodlands. The Home Depot donated six bins and a small

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organizer valued at $67. The other stores we visited that day were unable to donate because we
needed a letter from the school so they could present it to the donation team of the store.
On, September 8th, we talked about donations a few of us had collected, where we went,
the locations we needed to visit, and ideas about the formal donation letter that was needed at
certain stores in order to receive donations. As a group, we started a Google Docs to combine
information on our discussions and stores we visited (who donated/what they need to donate/and
who cannot/will not donate).
On September 15th, we worked on the ideas for the project and official donation letter.
With the help of Mrs. Ward, we obtained a formal donation letter that stated where we were from
and our intent. A copy of the donation letter is attached at the end of this document.
On September 22nd, Mrs. Garcia Duran was on a study abroad trip to Costa Rica. At this
time, we decided not to discuss without all the members present. On September 29th, Mr. Lopez
changed clinical locations with Ms. Witmer. This day we had a discussion about the items we did
not need and how we were going to continue to collect donations, and stores to which we need to
return. We discussed that we would come clean and organize the room on November 10th.
On October 2nd, Mrs. Garcia Duran and Ms. Hacker visited Walmart in the Woodlands
and Conroe, Lowes located in the Woodlands and Conroe, Target located in Conroe, The Home
Depot in Conroe and Sams Club located in Shenandoah and Conroe. Walmart donated a $50.00
gift card. The Home Depot donated two $25 gift cards that needed at least one cent spent to
receive the discount. Personnel at the other stores said that their store managers would contact
us. From the previous list, only Lowes in The Woodlands and in Conroe contacted us and told
us to return the following week. On October 5th, Ms. Robinson, Mrs. Garcia Duran, and Mr.
Trojacek went to the Lowes at Conroe and received a $100 gift card. On October 9th, Mrs.

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Garcia and Ms. Hacker went to talk to Lowes at The Woodlands manager, Larry, who donated
two heavy duty shelves valued at $89.99 each. The shelves were a priority to ensure safety in the
room for the seniors. Ms. Jones and Mr. Lopez went to The Container Store in the Cypress area.
Mr. Trojacek went to The Home Depot in Huntsville. Mr. Garrow went to The Home Depot in
Conroe, but none of these stores provided any material or money.
After donations were collected, the group decided to purchase plastic containers and
aluminum shelving with the gift cards we received. The shelves that were originally in the room
were old, took up too much space, and were not safe. Along with organizing material in the new
containers, the seniors had more room to store and perform crafts in a safe environment. Another
focus of organizing the room was their finished craft projects that were in random areas of the
room or thrown over some of the old shelves. We organized the crafts by purchasing a portable
rack to hang their items for display.
On November 10th, we gathered at the center to begin cleaning. We had discussed
possibly meeting on the following Friday as well if the work was not being completed. We began
our process by removing items into a neighboring room. The boys began building the new
shelving units. At this time, the girls straightened up areas and organized previous units. At the
end, we had the $50 gift card from Walmart that we did not use. We gave it to Mrs. Diane for
future expenses or to replace any unsafe or broken items in the room.
Benefits of the Project
The room which we cleaned is used as a workshop and a storage room for the seniors of
the Friendship Center. We decided to assist in this project because Mrs. Diane stated she needed
help in organizing this area of the facility. The environment lacked safety; it was hazardous to
the seniors and lacked working space for various projects they did. Many of the craft projects

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they did helped to raise funds for various organizations such as Magnolia FFA, Historical
Society, Wounded Warriors Project, MISD, Search and Rescue M., Lions club, and the seniors
of the Friendship Center. For example, this year the friendship center created a quilt for the
Wounded Warrior project, which was auctioned for $1,600. By reorganizing this room, we
ensured safety by removing hazardous cords, unstable shelfs, and providing more space to work.
With this project, we allowed the seniors to increase production of various projects such as
quilts, which helped to raise funds for previously mentioned foundations and the seniors of the
community.
Donation Collection

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Store

Donations

To do list

The Home Depot

6 storage bins and 1

organizer
Manager: Trey

Write thank you card

Tj Maxx

Submit letter online

Sams & Walmart

Submit letter online

Burlington

Write letter to manager and bring to store

At home

Go online to FAQ

Lowe's

Conroe-meet with Mike before 4 on M or Tu

Walmart

David (Woodlands) $50

gift card

Target

Request a 5O1C form (tax exempt) and

contact Carol (Conroe)

Officemax

Submit letter online ASAP

Home Depot
(Conroe)

2 discount cards $25 each

Lowes

Mike (Conroe) $100

10/05

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Before Pictures

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After Pictures

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