By Jack Komperda
Daily Herald Staff (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Ryan Anderson doesn't exactly provide his clients with a conventional sales pitch.
For a few hundred bucks, the Carol Stream native will give a Lake Michigan boater the works with his one-man boat-washing operation.
Waxing. Detailing. Underwater hull cleaning. He does it all.
But for just a few bucks more, he can spend his offseason buying dozens of Cambodian orphans food and clothes for the year.
"I couldn't believe how much I could do with so little cash," said Anderson, 30, who lives in Chicago. "These trips just clicked with me."
What began as a college venture to make beer money by washing watercraft at Chicago marinas evolved into a profitable business that provides Anderson with enough disposable income to take half the year off.
Now Anderson has spent parts of the last two years traveling overseas to Cambodia to volunteer with local orphanages, rebuilding dilapidated buildings and making sure its tiniest inhabitants get what they need: food, clothing and, maybe, a field trip to a museum or water park.
It's certainly not a typical way to spend one's leisure time, and Anderson knows it. But the Glenbard North High School graduate said he's hooked on the work.
Anderson has evolved his solo trips to Cambodia into a fledgling not-for-profit called Hands on Helping.
It's a true bare-bones operation: Anderson's mother keeps control of the agency's finances, friends help provide free publicity and legal aid, and Anderson's own boat clients donate much of the cash for his trips.
"He's always liked to travel, and Ryan just loves people," said Judy Allen, Anderson's mother.
"I'd much rather have him right here by me," said Allen, who lives in West Chicago. "But I'm glad he's strong enough to pursue his own passions."
Anderson's first experience with helping others overseas came in 2002, when he registered with a volunteer group that sent him to Nepal. He spent about a month working with a local orphanage.
Prior to that trip, Anderson solicited friends, family and clients for money, promising to use it for some sort of charity. He ended up buying 10 beds and bundles of clothing and building a working toilet for the orphanage.
The next winter, Anderson took a trip alone to a few Asian countries, partly as an excuse to scout out potential sites where he could volunteer his time and money.
Eventually, he found at least two sites in Cambodia with poor orphanages he hoped to help.
He's returned each of the last two years and plans to make another trip in October.
To help in his outreach effort, Anderson tonight will be hosting a fundraiser at a Chicago bar.
Many of the attendees will be family, friends and his work clients, and he said he hopes to raise about $10,000 for the trip.
"It's all about helping the kids," Anderson said. "If I was born there, I would never have been able to pull off what I'm able to pull off."
Not bad for a guy who started washing boats for beer money.
---------------
If you go
What: Fundraising party to benefit the Hands on Helping Foundation
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: The Spot Bar and Restaurant, 4437 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago
Cost: $25 per person
For information: Visit www.handsonhelping.org.
For a few hundred bucks, the Carol Stream native will give a Lake Michigan boater the works with his one-man boat-washing operation.
Waxing. Detailing. Underwater hull cleaning. He does it all.
But for just a few bucks more, he can spend his offseason buying dozens of Cambodian orphans food and clothes for the year.
"I couldn't believe how much I could do with so little cash," said Anderson, 30, who lives in Chicago. "These trips just clicked with me."
What began as a college venture to make beer money by washing watercraft at Chicago marinas evolved into a profitable business that provides Anderson with enough disposable income to take half the year off.
Now Anderson has spent parts of the last two years traveling overseas to Cambodia to volunteer with local orphanages, rebuilding dilapidated buildings and making sure its tiniest inhabitants get what they need: food, clothing and, maybe, a field trip to a museum or water park.
It's certainly not a typical way to spend one's leisure time, and Anderson knows it. But the Glenbard North High School graduate said he's hooked on the work.
Anderson has evolved his solo trips to Cambodia into a fledgling not-for-profit called Hands on Helping.
It's a true bare-bones operation: Anderson's mother keeps control of the agency's finances, friends help provide free publicity and legal aid, and Anderson's own boat clients donate much of the cash for his trips.
"He's always liked to travel, and Ryan just loves people," said Judy Allen, Anderson's mother.
"I'd much rather have him right here by me," said Allen, who lives in West Chicago. "But I'm glad he's strong enough to pursue his own passions."
Anderson's first experience with helping others overseas came in 2002, when he registered with a volunteer group that sent him to Nepal. He spent about a month working with a local orphanage.
Prior to that trip, Anderson solicited friends, family and clients for money, promising to use it for some sort of charity. He ended up buying 10 beds and bundles of clothing and building a working toilet for the orphanage.
The next winter, Anderson took a trip alone to a few Asian countries, partly as an excuse to scout out potential sites where he could volunteer his time and money.
Eventually, he found at least two sites in Cambodia with poor orphanages he hoped to help.
He's returned each of the last two years and plans to make another trip in October.
To help in his outreach effort, Anderson tonight will be hosting a fundraiser at a Chicago bar.
Many of the attendees will be family, friends and his work clients, and he said he hopes to raise about $10,000 for the trip.
"It's all about helping the kids," Anderson said. "If I was born there, I would never have been able to pull off what I'm able to pull off."
Not bad for a guy who started washing boats for beer money.
---------------
If you go
What: Fundraising party to benefit the Hands on Helping Foundation
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: The Spot Bar and Restaurant, 4437 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago
Cost: $25 per person
For information: Visit www.handsonhelping.org.
2 comments:
I whish more rich Cambodian overseas can pay more attention on this issue.
MAY POWER OF GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS RYAN.
From Woodhy
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