When most people see a pile of old pallets, they see nothing but useless junk. But for 11-year-old Sam Davies of Brigham City, Utah, he saw a potential jackpot.
The story all started when Sam’s mother, Brandy Davies, refused to simply give her son the $200 he needed to attend Boy Scouts summer camp. Instead, she wanted him to find a way to earn it.
That got Sam thinking. Nosing around his family’s property looking for ways to earn the cash he needed, he spotted an old abandoned pallet that somebody had painted to look like the US flag.
And a lightbulb went on in his head.
‘One Man’s Trash …’
Sam told KLS-TV in Salt Lake City that he suddenly realized how he could start earning some of the money he needed: Paint pallets to look like American flags and sell them online. He collected three old pallets, bought some paint and went to work.
When he was finished, he showed them to the finished product to his mother, who offered to put an advertisement on the local classifieds website.
Sam’s mom said didn’t think her son would make much money with his project, but she was very proud of him for trying. Instead, she got the surprise of her life.
An Unexpected Demand
Within 10 minutes of the classified ad going live, there were 50 orders for the patriotic pallets.
But it didn’t stop there. Word started getting around about the pallets and by the end of that first night, Sam already had more than 100 orders for his pallets.
A family friend donated the pallets he needed and Sam recruited some family and friends to start producing the pallets to meet the orders for the pallets, which were selling for $25 each.
When all was said and done, Sam ended up selling more than 200 pallets, for a profit of over $5,000. That not only paid his way to Boy Scout summer camp. He also was able to pick up the tab for his entire troop, including all of the adult troop leaders — with money to spare!
Valuable Life Lessons Learned
Sam’s mother said there were lots of days when her son would come home from school, get done with his homework and then want to go play outside. But she when she reminded him that hundreds of people were counting on him, he would just get to work and get the job done.
So what is Sam planning on doing with all the extra money? He says he tithed some to his church, set some aside for his mission, and is saving the rest.
Overall, it was a great experience, he said. He got to spend time with his friends and family and have a lot of fun in the process. Plus, he made some money. Not a bad outcome.