An Organization We Love: NuPath

image courtesy of providers.org

Occasionally we do work for a company called NuPath Inc. Their offices are located in Woburn but they have 11 locations around the greater Boston area. They provide day and residential services "for people living with developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and acquired brain injury." NuPath is also an active advocate for people with disabilities. We're proud to work with them and so pleased they choose us to help move them when they need it.

If you're interested, check out their Facebook page. They have a lot of upcoming events, including a walk and a book presentation, among other events, for Autism Awareness Month in April.

Kiva Update and a Local Event

Time for another Kiva update!

Most of our current loans are doing really well, which we love to see! Amor y Paz, a group that runs an upholstery and furniture making shop, is 90% repaid. All of the rest of the loans are between 40% and 62% repaid, which is wonderful. Sadly, one of our loans is delinquent in his repayments, but hopefully he can make his business work despite whatever challenges he's facing.

Since most of our loans are doing so well we've got credit to relend. We chose to lend to Rasheeda, a woman in Pakistan, who is seeking a loan to a buy a young horse for loading and transportation services. A mover in Pakistan, we love it! We also lent to Tony, a school bus driver in Lebanon, so he can make improvements to his bus and Manuela, a furniture maker in Peru, so she can buy supplies.

In more local news, we're a booster for the Friends of Cambridge Athletics race that's coming up on April 1st. Its held at Fresh Pond and raise money for student athletes. There's still time to sign up for either the run or the walk if you're interested.

Occupy Boston

Parked at the camp.

Last night a few of us got the call from Occupy Boston that they needed some help getting goods out of Dewey Square before the midnight deadline. Ezekiel, our owner had previously volunteered our services if they should need it and they took us up on it.

We rolled down to Dewey in one of our big trucks and first helped them load up all the goods from the medical tent. Our truck wasn't anywhere close to full, but given the uncertainties inherent in the situation, no one at Occupy had anything else for us to take at that moment.

Loading medical supplies.

After we finished up with that load and we were heading back to the warehouse we got another call from an Occupier asking us to come back and help with some more goods, which we were happy to do. This time we loaded up all the clothing donations and brought them to an Occupier's so they can be sorted and donated appropriately.

We are so glad we were able to help. The people we interacted with last night, from the cops to the Occupy Boston members were wonderful to work with. The Occupiers were really thankful that we were able to help out and we were pleased to do so. Intelligent Labor and Moving is in the business of moving people in and around Boston, not in the business of politics. As a small business though, we appreciate individuals and small groups trying to create change and start a discussion. We like to help where we can, and showing up with a truck to help Occupy Boston was a small way to help and get involved.

Kiva Update

We just completed a few more loans through our Kiva account. We lent to a blacksmith in Iraq, a shepherd in Armenia and a timber salesman in Kenya. You can check out our loans here.

All the other loans we've helped with are fully funded are now in the paying back phase with their loans. As these loans get paid back we'll make more to new borrowers and we'll keep you posted!

An Organization We Love: Kiva

As a small business ourselves, we are a big believer in the concept of people creating their own opportunities. We try and support other small, local businesses by using their services and buying their goods, as well as belonging to organizations like Cambridge Local First and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

Another way we choose to support small businesses is through Kiva. If you've never heard of the organization, you should check it out. Its a facilitator for microloans all over the world. Kiva connects microfinance organizations, or field partners, on five continents to lenders through their website. The field partners distribute 100% of the money to those who have sought loans. Kiva explains the whole process much better here, including information on due diligence, risk, etc.

We just lent $25 each to four people/groups. There is a group of furniture makers in the Dominican Republic, a man with a motorcycle trasnport business in Kenya, a security service provider in the US and a man with a construction transportation service in El Salvador.'

We'd like to try and make our loans to individuals and groups that have some connection to what we do, but we haven't come across any moving businesses on Kiva so far. The security service provider really has no connection to moving, but we liked that he's right here in our own backyard, so to speak.

As we provide more loans, we'll post updates. Our profile page on Kiva will also show updates on the success of the loans and any new ones we help fund. Kiva has their own twitter account as well.

image courtesy of businesspundit.com

Bridgehouse Shelter for Homeless Women and Children in Lynn

Tomorrow we're helping out with the fundraiser for Bridgehouse Shelter for Homeless Women and Children in Lynn. The staging company we regularly work with is donating their plants for the event's stage and we'll be the ones dropping them off and picking them up. Its a great cause and we're so pleased to be helping out.

Though the show is sold out (yeah!) you can still donate to the shelter through the Lynn Shelter Association. With the economy the way it is and the recent budget cuts all shelters could use our help if we can give it.