When we walked into the classroom at UTC carrying boxes of snacks, I was thinking about how much had happened before those boxes ever reached the students.
We’ve been sharing stories with them about Dorian through The D-Max Effect, talking about the relationships he’s built and the projects he’s taken on as we help them create an impact of their own. Today gave us a chance to show them how those connections can come back around in ways you couldn’t have planned.
A while back, Dorian asked Ricky Hughes, owner of Northeast Transport, for support with his birthday cake fundraiser. There was already a connection, but that ask gave them a reason to get to know each other better. Ricky offered ideas and contributed money toward the products Dorian needed, and their relationship continued after the fundraiser was over.
Recently, Ricky had products available and reached out to Dorian to see whether he could help find them a good home.
I love that he thought to ask him. Somewhere along the way, Dorian had become someone Ricky trusted to help put an opportunity to good use, and that trust opened the door for us to help others.
We shared products with the community and the high school, and we also thought of the students at UTC. They’re getting ready to collect snacks for the Courageous Steps Project, so we had a chance to give them something to build on before their campaign even began.
As we brought the boxes into their classroom, we were doing the very things we’ve been encouraging them to do: paying attention to what people need, thinking about the relationships and resources around us, and making a connection that could help.
And at the center of it was a kid their age who had been willing to ask for support.
That’s what I hope stays with them. Dorian’s relationship with Ricky grew because he reached out, and now Ricky was reaching back with an opportunity. The students could see how something as ordinary and sometimes intimidating as asking for help could become the beginning of a lasting relationship.
We often tell young people to be confident, but confidence has somewhere to grow when someone takes them seriously and gives them responsibility. When a business owner asks for your help, you get to experience being someone whose judgment and follow-through matter.
These students can earn that trust, too, through the conversations they start and the commitments they keep as they build their own project.
Their campaign hasn’t started yet, and I don’t know what their final total will be. What I do know is that today we got to practice what we preach while helping them begin. They still have their own work ahead, but they’re starting with tangible support and a story they’re now part of.
For me, that’s the heart of The D-Max Effect: helping young people discover what they can contribute, then giving them opportunities to put it into practice.
Dorian asked Ricky for help with a birthday cake fundraiser, and that relationship eventually helped a classroom full of students start something of their own. It makes me wonder who these students will connect with and where those relationships might lead.
Thank you to Acadia Federal Credit Union for funding this opportunity for UTC students to build relationships, practice leadership, and create their own community impact. To bring The D-Max Effect to your school or youth program, contact us.
