EcoBox is proud to support Operation Christmas Gift and the New Covenant Church in their efforts to make the holidays brighter for members of our local community and across the world.

It is a sure sign that Christmas is on its way.  The 28th annual Radio MASH Toy Drive will kicked off  this morning! You can help brighten the holidays for needy children in our area by dropping off new and gently used toys as well as cash donations.

The drive is set up outside the mall and it resembles an Army camp.  The event is put on by Brazos Valley Communications radio stations; 98.3 KORA, 1240 Radio Alegria KTAM, 101.9 The Beat KBXT, 103.9 JACKFM KJXJ, and 107.3  With the help of the USS Intangible (a local science fiction fan club), Texas Army National Guard, sponsors and many other individual volunteers and organizations, toys are sorted, packaged and picked up by community organizations throughout the event for the organizations to distribute to Brazos Valley children in need of Christmas gifts.

Last year Radio MASH collected toys for more than 5,000 children !

Radio M.A.S.H donations can be made December 1st-5th at Post Oak Mall:  1500 Harvey Road  College Station, TX 77840

EcoBox is proud to say that we assisted our community in the aftermath of the Central Texas wildfires. After donating moving boxes to the Austin Disaster Relief Network, we received this message letting us know that the boxes were put to good use!Our thoughts are with those families affected by the wildfires, and EcoBox is glad to have played a role in the recovery process.

Dear Sam,

Thank you very much for the donation of boxes to help our relief efforts during the Central Texas Wildfires. The boxes were used to sort and contain all the donations received at the warehouses.

Sincerely,

ADRN Core Jean

Austin local Christi Smith started the company when the urge for businesses to go green was not as profound as it is today, says EcoBox co-owner Dale Malone. “To say that when the company started up, one of its goals [was to] be environmentally friendly would probably not be correct,”he said.

“The company was actually started out of the trunk of Christi Smith’s car,” recalls Malone. “She would get used boxes from the people that bought them new from U-Haul, where her husband worked. She parked on the side of the road, popped her trunk open and sold them to make a living.”

After Smith and her husband retired, they sold the company to another couple, who then retired and sold the company to Malone and co-owner Sam Lee in 2003. Both attended college at the University of Texas and went on to work as engineers at 3M Corp.

EcoBox has come a long way from Smith’s trunk. Three of its four stores are located in the Austin area, and the fourth opened in San Antonio last Juen. “When we bought the company, we had one location off of Lamar, and the demand was greater than the supply,” Malone said. “That is no longer a problem. Eventually, we will have locations in all of the major cities in Texas.”

Since Malone and Lee acquired EcoBox the company  revenues have increased by more than 50 percent, propelled mainly by a change in technology, Malone said. “When we began using Oracle [software], we were able to manage our company in real time, which is very advantageous. We now have 100% visibility, meaning that I can see what is being purchased at our store in San Antonio right here from my desk in Austin.”

The Oracle Corp. software allows EcoBox to control distribution of its products from any of its locations. Malone and Lee have access to a unified business plan that includes business management, information technology and business objectives. The technologically savvy EcoBox withstood the recession thanks to the fact that their prices remain lower than most competitors on average. Small boxes are about 50 cents cheaper, and large boxes are more than $1 cheaper, according to Malone.

Branding themselves as an environmentally friendly hasn’t hurt earnings, either. “Austin is definitely in support of companies that are green, so Ecobox is geographically at an advantage,” said Breeze Marketing media buyer Mia Vieira. “Don’t get me wrong. The green wave is making its way around the country, but Austin started it.”

Malone and Lee think they have a business that will persist. “Not only are we offering our customers a chance to be environmentally friendly,” Malone said. “We… are definitely environmentally conscious. We recycle, we use biodegradable products, we deal in scanned documents in order to avoid killing trees, and drive hybrid cars. Oh yeah, and we are much cheaper than our competitors.”

source: Stephannie Garci, Reporting Texas

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas, thank you for your generous gift of $8,610.26 to the 2011 KVET Radiothon.

Dell Children’s is a tremendous asset to our community. The state-of-the-art facility provides exceptional care to thousands of children in Central Texas. We’ve created a new standard in pediatric care for children and adolescents, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. We are offering help, hope and healing for generations to come. We are reflecting our community’s long term commitment to excellence, to reach our goal of becoming one of the leading children’s hospitals in the nation.

Your contribution through the 2011 KVET Radiothon will help us continue to serve our young patients and their families with exceptional medical care in a world-class medical center that will support the Central Texas region for many years into the future- imagine the miracles your gift will help provide!

We greatly appreciate your generosity!

Sincerely,

Maureen (Missy) Wood, Executive Director

Vice President, Seton Family of Hospitals

If you’ve ever tried to move or ship delicate flat objects such as flat-screen TVs, framed artwork, or laptops, you know how difficult it can be to make sure you’re packing these items safely and securely. EcoBox has come to the rescue, now offering Foam U Blocks for just such situations! These foam blocks slide on to delicate items between 1 and 4 inches wide and are perfectly sized to fit in either 6″- or 8″-wide boxes.

By: Angela Ploetz, POSH Space

Then your best bet might be catching Craig Budreau’s First Annual Movers Olympics.

Budreau, a retired mover who can tote an easy chair like it was a toolbox, plans to hold his games on Sunday afternoon, June 26, at Giddy Ups, the beer joint in Manchaca.

Finding a suitable location was tricky, since Budreau wanted a place where spectators can see the stairs the Olympians will climb up while toting heavy furniture for gold, silver and bronze medals. So he’s planning on building a outdoor staircase in Giddy Ups’ yard especially for the games.

“You know, like in ‘Gunsmoke,’ they can build a (gallows) to hang somebody in a 24-hour period, right?” Budreau said.

Budreau, 51, a South Austin guy who wrote a book on how to pick a mover called “Your Move,” says that he’s contacted moving companies around town and that they’re ready to compete. He says they’re lending him the supplies he’ll need to pull this off — including “the piano and the double-door fridge and the white African water buffalo leather triple-recliner sofa.”

The main event? How about team piano moving? “We’re going to have the upright piano; it’s going to weigh 730 pounds,” he said. “The task would be four men to move it upstairs, around a narrow landing switchback. Any damage to the piano or the floor will greatly diminish your score.”

At least one mover is excited about the chance to strut his stuff — or in this case, other people’s stuff. “Box races: with two people with a dolly,” said Tim Toomey, 34, who works for Aloha Moving here in Austin and plans to chase the gold. “On a whistle, they start going up the stairs; that’s compelling.”

Have you ever wanted to see a man carry a couch on his noggin? Well, here’s your chance. “The other freestyle event would be the sofa on top of the head, upstairs around switchbacks,” Budreau said. Sounds like Monaco, with cushions.

Carrying a sofa on your head is no big deal for an expert, said Toomey, who worked his first move at the age of 14. It’s all in the leverage and knowing where to grab. “Sometimes, we just wear furniture,” he said. “We don’t lift it so much.”

“Another main event would be the double-door fridge, up two flights, one switchback, one narrow doorway, to enter room and make the ice maker work,” Budreau added. The ice maker working is the tricky part.

Budreau has lined up six judges with a combined 150 years in the business. He’s serious about testing for skills. “We’re going to be grading these movers on dexterity, coordination and all these other things you have to do as movers,” he said. “Furniture nomenclature knowledge. Packing pallets. Delicate packing skills.”

To start the games, no one’s running down Interstate 35 from Round Rock to Austin carrying a flaming couch pillow. But there will be other Olympian touches. The judges “can hold up cards,” Budreau figures. So a mover could score a 6.3 while getting a hernia.

Not that it’ll all be heavy lifting. “We’re also going to have packing for each team, with fine china and stemware, And then we roll that down a flight of stairs,” Budreau said. “And points will be based on breakage.”

Source: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/world-class-schleppers-will-be-judged-at-movers-1530166.html