{"id":43327,"date":"2019-06-09T13:58:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T17:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=43327"},"modified":"2019-06-09T13:58:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T17:58:45","slug":"the-trash-cart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/06\/the-trash-cart\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trash Cart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Written by Michael D. Magnant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year I opened a GoFundMe campaign and raised enough money to purchase this 1989 Melex Golf Cart.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tired POS but it was running.\u00a0 Ever heard of that brand?\u00a0 Melex? \u2026 Me neither.\u00a0 When the GFM page reached $650, I was able to purchase this old cart.\u00a0 It\u2019s why I refer to it as my \u201cTrash Cart\u201d.\u00a0 When I had issues with it, Alisha from \u201cGator Golf Cars\u201d in Ft. Myers and Naples came to the rescue and put some money into it for me. I received Cadillac treatment from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) New Headlight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) 6 gently used batteries (which I killed because I forgot\nto add water to the batteries once a month.  Sorry, this is my first\ncart.  Won\u2019t happen twice!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Windshield<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Side mirrors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Hub caps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) A metal bed on the back.  I secure a regular trash\nbarrel in that metal box on the back end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7)  They picked it up and dropped it off at no\ncharge.  Around a grand worth of support.  I thought that was pretty\ndarn nice of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use those Gripper tongs and they work really well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was averaging around 40+ hours per week and was able\nto cover a lot of ground.  Please take a look at another FB page. \nSee:  Freddy the trash talking dog.  I post things with him and\nMaddie sometimes.  We proudly received your \u201cHometown Hero\u201d Award, last\nyear and we were also interviewed by Wink and NBC last year.  I thought it\nmight be a possible follow-up story for you because we are still doing this\npretty much every day.  I can\u2019t do it with any volume without the\ncart.  It\u2019s too hot and Freddy is 10 \u00bd so, the heat is a bit much for him\nnow too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to be sustainable, this volunteer effort\nrequires a full-time Community-based sponsor.  Someone that is successful\nand green-conscious OR just someone that can appreciate how much effort\nactually goes into this each day.  I think a couple of grand a year in\npublic or private sponsorship would cover any maintenance.  For\nexample:  The bill for 6 new batteries, at cost: $650.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the batteries cost the same amount as I paid for the old\n\u201cWar Wagon\u201d in the first place.  It is what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community helped me to get the cart and I\u2019ve done a lot\nof good work from it.  My hope is that either more of them can support the\nongoing maintenance of it too.  OR, if we can just find a person secure\nenough to keep me and this cart and going out there.   Also, please\ntake a look at where I work.  It might have relevance here.  We are a\n35-year-old non-profit.  A Disability Rights Organization.  I work\ndirectly for \/ with the CEO.  Coreen Brinckerhoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last, almost 100% of my staff has a disability.  Myself\nincluded.  I\u2019m really proud of that www.cordcapecod.org<\/a>    Today,\nI sort of live in two worlds.  The guy in the bright yellow vest and hat\nin Lehigh that picks-up trash around town or the President of a Disability\nRights organization up on Cape Cod, MA.  I need to dress a bit differently\nfor that role.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However, this shakes out, thank you for taking the\ntime to read this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editors note: Can the community help one of our Hometown Heros get batteries for the \u201cTrash Cart\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Michael D. Magnant <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Michael D. Magnant Last year I opened a GoFundMe campaign and raised enough money to purchase this 1989 Melex Golf Cart.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tired POS but it was… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":43329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}