Texas Ramp Project November 2022 Newsletter: So much to be thankful for, new board member, and Building Basics

November 2022 Newsletter

Volume 4, Issue 11

Message from John Laine

TRP's Executive Director

Dear Friends,

This is a great time of the year to be building ramps. I was in Wise County this past Saturday and built a 44-foot ramp with volunteers from Rotary as well as some of our own workers. The use of a single 2x6 as the handrail throughout the ramp made things go more quickly and (to me) provides a better ramp for our clients.

With December closing in on us, I would encourage all of you to have your volunteers’ family members join you on site to make it a festive time and to let them know how much we appreciate your participation and their support of your efforts. Donuts are a real plus here!

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, John

Most gratefully, John

The Power of Thank You

A little thanks goes a long way. Both giving thanks and receiving thanks (and passing them on) provide encouragement to referral sources and funders as well as a real lift to volunteers. Here are a few examples:

Thank you to referral source with photo of build

“Tracie, I want to thank you for sending us the referral for Mr. A. It is only because you care for your clients that we were able to build this ramp for him. Please remember Texas Ramp Project if you have other clients in need of a safe way to exit and enter their home and unable to pay to have a ramp built by a professional contractor.”—Kay Geurin to Tracie at AmeriGroup

Thank you from referral sources

This makes my heart smile. Thank you and the volunteers so much for what you do. It looks lovely and I am sure he was very pleased.—Tracie, Amerigroup

Thank you so much for the update and the pictures. I shared with my team. Y’all do amazing work!—Elizabeth, Ensign Services

Thank you from funding source

Your ears should be burning because I talk about you all, all the time. You don't just do one standard ramp, you get creative to design ramps that suit the space and purpose. I have never seen people construct ramps so beautifully while thinking what is best for the person's needs. I work with different organizations who build ramps, and while they do great work, it is just not the same as what you do at Texas Ramp Project. I really appreciate so much what you all do so well and with love for every person you help.—Pat Stilley, Isla Carroll Turner Friendship Trust

Thank you from a client, forwarded to the team leader

I wanted to let you and your team know about a telephone call I received a few minutes ago. It was from Rodolfo R. Your team built a ramp for him the first of the month.

He said he got up this morning and felt very blessed, as he has since y’all built the ramp. He just wanted to let us know how much it has changed his life. He reminded me that since he has both knees in braces he cannot walk very well. He said having a ramp opened the door to his life.

I thanked him for calling me and letting me know how much he appreciates what y'all did for him. I explained that building ramps makes us all feel so good inside. We all want to help other people have a good life. He responded, “If I had anything of any value, it would all be yours (meaning you volunteers).”—Kay Geurin

Meet TRP Board Member: Pete Carey

Call him Mr. Mobility. Or, more accurately, Mr. ToyotAbility. That’s because TRP’s newest board member, Pete Carey, came across the Texas Ramp Project about five years ago through a business partnering group called ToyotAbility, which focused on those with physical and cognitive differences.

A 30-year Toyota employee, Pete was executive sponsor for ToyotAbility at the time. “Toyota partnered with TRP because it fit in with our volunteer mandate as well as our desire to ensure all people have mobility regardless of their differences,” Pete says. Along with other Toyota employees, he started building ramps in the Dallas area.

And when he retired from Toyota this fall, he was elected to the TRP board of directors. He replaces Brock Bayles of Toyota, who has served on the board for the past three years. Pete will focus on improving TRP’s technology as well as helping build relationships with donors and stakeholders.

Pete grew up in Yonkers, New York, and received a degree in business administration from Marist College. He and Carin, his wife of nearly 35 years, were high school sweethearts. Pete worked briefly for a Wall Street investment firm before joining Toyota. He retired as group vice president of Private Label Banking and president of Mazda Financial Services and Bass Pro Shops Financial Services.

Pete’s move to the TRP board was a natural progression. “I love this organization and the impact it has on people who have challenges with mobility,” he says. “I saw first-hand on build sites how the recipients’ lives and those that care for them were positively affected.”

The couple hop-scotched several times between New York, California and Texas, with their final landing in North Texas with Toyota’s corporate move to Plano. Pete and Carin have two daughters, one newly married and living in Dallas, the other in Los Angeles. In addition to serving on the TRP board, Pete is board vice chairman for Special Olympics Texas and a member of Knights of Columbus in McKinney.

Pete’s special interests include building and restoring things, and he has an elaborate shop at his home filled with automobile-related signs and other pop culture items. He enjoys the outdoors and is an avid fisherman.

Thank you, Brock Bayles

A big shout-out to retiring board member Brock Bayles, vice president of Toyota Financial Services and recently named president of Mazda Financial Services and Bass Pro Shops Financial Services. It was Pete Carey who recommended Brock to John Laine when John asked if a Toyota executive would like to join the board. Brock has contributed much during his service, including sharing Toyota staff expertise for TRP special events and projects.

Thank you, Brock.

San Antonio Reaches Out for Funding

The San Antonio Central region found itself in a tough predicament a couple months ago. It had 52 ramps surveyed and ready to build but no funding. Close to $50,000 was needed. So a team of area coordinator George Swarner and board members Garner McNett, Sandy Knutson, Kay Champagne and Mark Hinzman started staging weekly Zoom calls to brainstorm fundraising ideas. Other key volunteers, including LeAnne Smith and Julie Gunter, joined in as well.

Starting with nearly 20 potential resources, the crowd divided up the list and got busy. Here’s what they came up with—and several potential sources, including individual donors, are still pending:

Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation – $15,000
H-E-B – $10,000
Carl C. Anderson, Sr. & Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation - $10,000 matching funds
Toyota Dallas – $5,000
WellMed Charitable Foundation – $5,000
St. Luke’s Lutheran Health Ministries – $5,000
Oak Hills Church – $1,500
Abiding Presence Lutheran Church – $325

What we learned is that this kind of concentrated approach can bring results. If your region is running short, gather some of your volunteers together to brainstorm for revenue.

And do not hesitate to contact Sandy or Kay or others in Dallas to assist. We are here for you.

Recent Grants and Donations

$10,000 for Dallas from Santander Consumer USA
$10,000 for Dallas from Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust.
$4,500 for Bryan/College Station from Waldon H. and Adele Orr Charitable Trust.
$2,420 for Waco North Hill County from HILCO Electric Trust.
$2,500 for Abilene Scurry County from Big Country Electric Cooperative Trust.
$2,500 for Dallas from Kiwanis Club of McKinney.
$2,500 for Waco South from Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative.
$2,200 for Waco South from Waco Habitat for Humanity.
$2,000 for Wichita Falls from Guinn Foundation.
$1,600 for East Texas Tyler from First Christian Church.
$1,250 for San Antonio Northeast from St. John’s Episcopal Church.
$1,000 for Temple/Belton from Temple Founder Lions Club.
$1,000 for Dallas from Experion.
$600 for East Texas Marshall from United Fund of Morris County.
$600 for Austin West from Church at Horseshoe Bay.
$500 for East Texas Marshall from New Destinations.
$500 for Dallas from Texas Instruments Foundation.
$500 for East Texas Jacksonville from United Way of Rusk County.
$300 for East Texas Marshall from Morris County Collaborative.
$250 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.

’Tis the Season

The holiday giving season is upon us. It’s time to open our hearts, and those of friends and family and your church or service organization, to the joy of helping a person with disabilities receive a ramp.

And it’s so easy. If you are on social media, one of the best ways for you to encourage others to donate is by simply sharing our Donor Box link: https://donorbox.org/texasrampgeneralcampaign. Or donors can send a check to P.O. Box 832065, Richardson, TX 75083-2065.

For IRA owners age 70½ or older, remember that you can transfer any amount up to $100,000 per year (dream on!) directly to a nonprofit organization. There are tax benefits:

Your gift is excluded from your adjusted gross income.
You pay no income tax on the distribution.
If you are required to take required minimum distributions (RMDs), your gift can satisfy all or part of your RMD obligation.

This popular gift option is commonly called the IRA charitable rollover, but you may also see it referred to as a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD for short. Since the gift doesn’t count as income, it can reduce your annual income level. This may help lower your Medicare premiums and decrease the amount of Social Security that is subject to tax.

It never hurts to consider all your options when you consider your charitable giving. IRA is a very viable and tax-effective choice.

East Texas Jacksonville Receives Rotary Club Gift

Jacksonville recently celebrated it sesquicentennial celebration, and the Texas Ramp Project was very visible. The TRP Jacksonville team was gifted a canopy that proudly announced our presence and encouraged participation. The canopy was a gift from the Jacksonville Rotary Club. The team also received $400 from this community celebration. Thank you to the Rotary Club of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville community for this support.

Social Media News

by Madison Lopez

We can smell the holiday Turkey in the distance and year-end contributions nearing. It’s time to spread the gravy AND the link to our donor box! This is the perfect time of year to make use of TRP’s easily accessible donation link. Give on your own and encourage others to give online.

This can be done by a simple copy and paste of the link, along with a message that encourages donations. It is best to include a note outlining your personal relationship with TRP, why you think others should donate, and how TRP makes a difference in your own community. Let's spread the message of giving as we spread the holiday cheer.

Additionally, we would love to see holiday-themed photos at build sites this time of year. Fun photos encourage online sharing as well as team building on-site. This can mean grabbing Santa hats for your team, wearing reindeer antlers or holiday sweaters, or simply dabbing a spot of red paint on the nose to look like Rudolph. The options are endless, and we can't wait to see your creativity!

To make sure we see your posts, remember to use #TRP and #TexasRampProject.

Remember to follow us on our main social media pages as well.

Building Basics

by Roy Harrington

Building Basics

The pictures of ramps built by youth mission groups in last month’s newsletter prompted a question from Bruce Smith (Austin Central) about using planks for ramp decking. The standard TRP design uses plywood, but 5/4x6 or 2x6 planks are also options if the module structure is changed to safely support each type of lumber.

All are acceptable materials but each one has pros and cons as a ramp deck solution.

Ramp deck material selection

Historically, and for good reasons, TRP has used treated ¾” plywood for the ramp deck. This is an effective solution that is easy for our volunteer groups to install and is the least expensive option when compared to 5/4 or 2-inch planks. The TRP “inverted module” that touches the ground is a very creative design that is made possible by use of a sheet of plywood. However, plywood is slippery when wet even with anti-slip paint and generally has a shorter expected lifespan than planks, particularly when placed close to the ground. Overall plywood is a good solution, but it’s not perfect.

5/4-inch deck boards are a commonly used deck-building material, and a ramp is a deck, installed on a slope. The boards are roughly 1 inch thick with rounded edges that look good when installed and shed water very well to provide better wet-weather traction. Other groups that have been building ramps for as long as TRP has, have used deck boards very successfully. A big positive is no need to return and paint the deck. The downsides are cost, slightly more time-consuming installation, and a more complicated final module where the thicker material is transitioned down to the ground.

2x6 lumber is already familiar to TRP teams and primarily differs from 5/4 boards in thickness (1.5 inch vs. 1 inch) and the lack of rounded edges. In general, 2x6 decking should last longer than either 5/4 boards or plywood and falls between them in “per-foot” ramp cost due to requiring a little less structure than the thinner 5/4 planks. However, the additional ½-inch thickness further complicates a smooth transition to the ground at the end of the decking.

Module Structure Differences

Using the standard 4x8 module as an example, the different decking options require different structures as the thicker 2x6 decking needs less support than the thinner 5/4 boards or plywood. While not the only solutions, the following diagrams show the basic 2x6 structure needed to support the various decking options.

Dimensions below are based on a 48.5-inch-wide module for plywood and 48 inches for the two plank options.

There are good reasons to use an even narrower structure such as 45 inches for 48-inch planks, which will further extend the deck life. However, this complicates the installation of handrails.

Assuming these structures and current lumber prices, a complete 4x8 ramp module using 5/4 decking will cost about 20% more than one using plywood. A complete 4x8 module with 2x6 decking will cost about 15% more than plywood.

While the cost is higher, another pro for using planks is when “non-standard” modules like 5x5, 5x10 or short modules like 4x2 are needed in a ramp. Planks easily adapt to sizes other than 4x8 with little or no waste, unlike plywood, where odd-size, difficult-to-use and/or store pieces can be generated. In addition, the larger flat surface of a 5x5 or 4x8 U-turn module will drain water much better when decked with 5/4 boards, which will significantly improve the safety and expected lifespan of the ramp.

Transition to the Ground

Particularly for 2x6 decking, the final transition to the ground can be challenging with anything but plywood. One example of handling this is shown below, with thanks to our friends in the New Mexico Ramp Project for documenting this approach.

This design primarily uses 2x4s and requires ripping two of them at an angle to lay flat on the ground to support this last module. Others will bury the structure in the ground, allowing the whole 2x4 or 2x6 to support the planks and hold the screws.

For plywood decking, the TRP “inverted module” is a very good solution, particularly with the addition of the metal plate used by many of our regions to remove the ¾-inch plywood edge obstacle at the end of the ramp.

A combination can also be used, where most of the ramp uses planks but the last few feet is an inverted plywood module to make the final transition to the ground.

Unfortunately, no matter the design, any lumber close to or contacting the ground will deteriorate faster than the rest of the ramp.

Summary

It is hard to argue with the use of plywood due to the ease of installation and the cost, but the need to add anti-slip paint a couple months after completing the ramp is a challenge. In addition, plywood in general won’t last as long as planks, and currently available plywood really doesn’t have a “built-to-last” look as many sheets have open knots in the surface that are going to hold water and accelerate the deterioration process even if painted. If the cost (dollars and volunteer time) of replacing the decking every few years is included on more ramps than in the past, the use of planks becomes more attractive. The fact that they eliminate the need to paint the deck also saves volunteer hours.

There may be some value in assessing the needed life of each ramp as part of the survey process to facilitate the selective use of planks. It is also possible that specific teams/regions may decide which decking option is best for their clients, build teams and budget to standardize on a survey and build process based on just one decking solution.

Feedback is welcome and encouraged, particularly from anyone with real-world experience building ramps or decks who may have more insight into which material will best meet the conflicting criteria of cost, ease of installation, client safety and useful ramp life.

Please send pictures of module and or cutting jigs

If you have a jig for building the modules (or frames) and/or a jig for repeatably cutting the pieces of lumber to length, please send pictures and a description of what you like (or don’t like) and anything else that might be helpful to others when building their own jig. Depending on number of pictures and descriptions received, some or all will be used in a future newsletter.

Historically, and for good reasons, TRP has used treated ¾-inch plywood for the ramp deck. This is an effective solution that is easy for our volunteer groups to install and is the least expensive option when compared to 5/4- or 2-inch planks. The TRP “inverted module” that touches the ground is a very creative design that is made possible by use of a sheet of plywood. However, plywood is slippery when wet even with anti-slip paint and generally has a shorter expected lifespan than planks, particularly when placed close to the ground. Overall, plywood is a good solution, but it’s not perfect.

Click on the picture below for a downloadable version of November 2022's Building Basics.

Do you have other tips or suggestions to share?

A lot of very good ideas are being developed by ramp builders across the state. Please send any questions, comments or potential ramp construction topics to texasramps.roy@gmail.com to help others build ramps better, stronger and faster.

Ramps of the Month Celebrating Milestones

Bryan/College Station and El Paso

When Mr. D. received his first ramp, it was the 100th build for the Bryan/College Station teams. But time took its toll on the ramp, requiring a new one. Mr. D.'s new 52-foot ramp was the 197th ramp for this region.

The El Paso region celebrated construction of its 100th ramp with the assistance of the Rotary Club of El Paso, WellMed, and several other organizations. Over the years, the Rotary Club of El Paso has donated $70,000 for ramps in El Paso. Volunteers celebrate the 100th ramp and the continuing support of the El Paso Rotarians.

Pass the Newsletter On to Others

We hope you enjoy having the newsletter sent to you directly, as it is filled with useful information, building hints and tips, data collection updates and processes, client stories, special announcements and recognitions.

The newsletter only does its job when it is dispersed and shared with all who might be interested. We encourage you to liberally pass it on to others in your region.

Also, do send email addresses of people in your region who should be receiving it, along with their name and TRP region, to Sandy Knutson at sjkbits@aol.com.

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