Two friends have helped out a few times,
but mostly Holley has been on his own in
building the furniture for students, teachers,
daycare centers — about 150 desks so far.
Requests continued to roll in, with $5,000 left
in the account.
“Just do good and help others and love,”
Holley said.
In the D.C. suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland,
Jessica Berrellez was already involved in a
project with other moms to provide virtual
educational materials for kids in low-income
families. The logical next step was supplies
like headphones and whiteboards — and
desks, of course.
Berrellez enlisted her husband, Al, who went to
a big-box store to pick up materials, watched
some online videos and built a prototype in
about an hour at a cost of around $40. At first
they provided all the labor and funding, but
soon it was more than two people with full-
time jobs could handle.
They started a Facebook group, Desks by
Dads, and others weighed in to help tweak
and improve the design. Money now comes
from donations. And some 60 desk-building
volunteers, ranging from retirees to parents
whose own kids got desks and are now
giving back, have delivered 138 desks to
underprivileged kids.
“Our greatest hope was that other people
would step in and help,” Berrellez said. “And
it’s happened.”