Only two weeks left?!

Hey all,

Just under two weeks remain before the team heads back to Denver, but the project in Grand Junction continues going strong.  This morning we met with our sponsor, Kathy Portner and other important members of the project.  The team received some media coverage yesterday by a local TV station, which you can view in the previous blog post.  In the meeting we discussed other media outlets we have tried to contact, and also brought up the radio interview that will occur on July 19th.  Following the meeting Kathy ordered pizza for the group from Pablo's Pizza, an excellent restaurant where we ate when we first arrived here.  It was a welcome, appreciated surprise.

Around noon I drove to the nearby town of Palisade with Meredith, Jon, and Ali, to meet up with the owner of a mobile home park named Patrick.  We had slight difficulty locating his place, and he initially appeared irritated, but was actually a friendly and agreeable individual who was late as well.  At the park he knocked on residents' doors and requested that they fill out weatherization forms in which the resident gets a free energy audit of their home.  There were four different homes in which we obtained completed forms, which was a big accomplishment for us because getting people signed up is always a difficult task.  Most of the time people need time to think it over before committing to the services we offer.  Patrick knew who was home and who qualified for the free audit so that made our job that much easier. 

Additional canvassing was planned for the afternoon in Fruita, but as the team drove to the neighborhood dark storm clouds loomed ahead and lightning appeared.  As a result we decided to cancel the canvas.  Instead we split into two groups and drove around Grand Junction, scouting out businesses where people would be likely to visit and possibly look at information boards.  With the owners' permission, we attached posters for the Red Door Challenge in the windows of grocery stores and coffee shops, and sometimes on a bulletin board.  We're trying to get the word out about this program as much as possible.  Along with the farmer's markets and canvassing neighborhoods, this is a great way for that to happen.

Our goal is to help people by cutting their energy costs, and while some may be negative or dismissive toward our efforts, we are still making real progress, and it's great to interact with those who are grateful for our assistance.  Giving out information on these programs is a relatively easy thing to do but the impact it has is far greater than the effort required would indicate.

Thanks for reading!

-Ben