I am a retired guy doing things I love in my retirement years.
I love woodworking and have a woodwork shop where I can make things out of wood.
For several years I have been working on wooden puzzles. The kind that look easy but after a few minutes one is still trying to solve the thing. Fun?
Since my puzzle making is a “labour of love” I have decided not to sell my puzzles but rather give them to people who will make a donation to a charitable organization. The organization I have chosen is “Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver.”I chose this organization for several reasons.
One They are doers!
Two They spend as little as possible of the raised funds on administration costs.
Three They use volunteers to work in the two
ReStores. The ReStores sell new and used retail building supplies.
All the information about them is on the web site at http://www.vancouverhabitat.bc.ca/
My Goal is to raise $10,000.00 for Habitat for Humanity. One of the ten ways I will raise these funds is by giving my puzzles to people for a $20.00 Donation to Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver. Please help me come up with other ideas of how I can raise these funds.
As a successful realtor for more than 20 years I learned to always ask for the order. I am asking for the order now. Will you donate $20.00 or more to Habitat for Humanity?
Thank you.
Wayne Helfrich
wayneh2@gmail.com
Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver is a non-profit charitable organization working in the Lower Mainland to build affordable housing for sale to deserving, low-income families. With donations of land, money and materials, volunteers work alongside partner families to build simple, decent homes. The homes are sold to partner families with affordable, no-interest mortgages, and their mortgage payments are re-invested in a fund to build more habitat homes. Selected families are required to volunteer a minimum of 500 hours into building their own houses and those of other families.
Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver is currently building a 27 unit townhouse community in Burnaby, B.C.
Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver also owns and operates two ReStores (Vancouver and Burnaby). The ReStores sell donated new and used building materials to the public at bargain prices. Profits pay operating costs and help build local Habitat homes.
Volunteers are always needed to help out on our build site and in the ReStores.
For more information please visit: www.vancouverhabitat.bc.ca
I am happiest when I am “doing” something. Even as a young kid I remember spending hours making wheel barrels so I could haul water easier, faster, and not have to carry the heavy stuff. Don’t ask me to come to a meeting or join a committee. Ask me to “do” something. If I say “Yes”, It will be done.
I started out as a teacher, then a rehabilitation counselor, then twenty some years as a Real Estate Salesman and house renovator.
Now in my sixties I am working on my fourth career. Retirement! I hope to spent the next twenty to thirty some years making things in my woodwork shop. Taking pictures with my fancy camera and playing with them in Adobe Photoshop CS3TM. makes me happy too.
Several years ago at a garage sale I picked up a bag of wooden puzzles and a brochure advertising “Wooden puzzles” A company called “Made by Humans” from Vancouver made hundreds of Wooden Puzzles .
The brochure caught my interest and I called the number advertising the wooden puzzles. The fellow on the end of the phone sounded surprised. He said you know that brochure is 10 years old.
After some time I managed to buy a number of the wooden puzzles they still had from when they made these puzzles in large quantities. This was my first encounter with wooden puzzles and from that time my interest has increased. I started collecting wooden puzzles and tried my hand at making a number of them. Now most who know me say I have a sever case of “Puzzles on the brain”.
I have been a member of the Pacific Woodworkers Guild for some years now. Every year we have a contest to make something creative out of a 2 X 4 eight feet long.Last year I won the intermediate level. I made fifteen wooden puzzles out of a single 2 X 4. This exercise got me starting on making wooden puzzles in a big way.
I found that certain hardwoods worked better for different puzzles. I learned various ways to cut small pieces of wood safely. (still have all my fingers) I learned to sand the wood to a very fine finish before you assemble. (This trick took me a year to learn) I started reading about many puzzles makers . I started buying books about puzzle collecting. I went to the library and found books on the history of puzzles. The internet is full of all kinds of web sites advertising wooden puzzles. I discovered Jerry Slocum who collected puzzles since he was very young. Recently he gave his collection of 30,000 mechanical puzzles, 4500 books to the university of Indiana. Now, before I die I will go check out the Lilly Library at the university of Indiana.
Over the years I have given my puzzles to students, day cares, seniors etc. I decided that I would not sell any puzzles. The “joy” is in making the puzzles and giving them away to those who love puzzles as much as I do.
