Thank you so much for all of the immediate support for the Big Trade Up! We had several people offer items to trade and we decided to go with Vik Janega, with Lunds in St. Paul, MN who offered a nice nylon Lunds grocery bag to trade for Frank’s #2 pencil. Vik heard about the Big Trade Up and thought the reusable bag would not only be a good item to kick off the trades and help Mind The Future but one that is environmentally friendly. So if you’re ever in St. Paul, stop by the Lunds on Ford Parkway and say hi to Vik.

So thank you to Vik for the Lunds grocery bag! Now we are ready for the next trade. Please submit items for consideration to MyTrade@BigTradeUp.com and stay tuned for updates on the next trades.

Welcome to the BigTradeUp! You watched the video and you’re saying to yourself what in the world is this… are these guys crazy? Well maybe, but after years of hard work trying to run non-profit Vision For Business (Now Mind The Future) without staff the best we can as volunteers, we decided it was time to make one big push to take Mind The Future to another level. It was time to see if we could raise enough money to fund 10 new scholarship commitments and hire a full-time Executive Director.

Given today’s economic conditions, we asked ourselves how could it ever be done? We needed a big idea, something different from the typical fundraiser… The idea… What if we started with one small item and with the help of friends, family, co-workers, anyone that has a heart for helping inner-city kids, we keep trading up until we have secured an item that can be sold to fund 10 scholarships and grow Mind The Future. That’s it, the Big Trade Up!

So here we are… The site is up, video complete and Frank’s #2 pencil is now available for trade. Franks #2 pencil is a symbol of the hard work that we can inspire with each new Mind The Future Scholarship commitment. Frank who is now in High School, is the perfect example of how Mind The Future works. He was our first scholarship recipient in 6th grade who today continues to excel in school and recently started his own peer tutoring network. He jumped at the opportunity to kick off the BigTradeUp and is excited to help make it a success.

To support this great cause, please consider offering an item to trade for Frank’s #2 pencil by emailing us at MyTrade@BigTradeUp.com. Please tell others about the BigTradeUp.com and stay tuned for trade updates!