Meet The Makers
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How was HEAVENDROPt started?
HEAVENDROPt was conceived during a visit to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Evergreen CEO, Sue Buchholtz was invited to the base by John Stross, founder of Remember Honor Support, a nonprofit that supports veterans.
During the visit to MacDill AFB, Sue was shown the careful examination of used parachutes prior to them being cleared for use by the military for additional jumps. Sue saw the potential to develop products from the parachutes that could not be used again. Sue’s vision was to develop a social enterprise that included employing people with disabilities, giving back to veteran organizations and recycling. This started the development of a business plan and process to make this vision a reality.
HEAVENDROPt would not exist without that visit to MacDill AFB where John introduced Sue to the parachutes at MacDill. Even though Sue is considered the founder of HEAVENDROPT, John was instrumental in its startup and stood by our side throughout the process and implementation. HEAVENDROPt was also founded with strong backing from business professionals who serve on the Advisory Board of the social enterprise, Doug Towne and Nancy Giles, who were key to strategizing and building the business plan and operations.
Is HEAVENDROPt a nonprofit?
HEAVENDROPt is a part of Evergreen Life Services and is a 501c3 nonprofit. Funds are used to pay competitive wages to people with disabilities who make our products. Our goal is to supply meaningful work to all. Of course, all product raw materials must be purchased continually to keep everyone working. A large expense is our purchase of the retired military parachutes from auction through Government Liquidation and we continue to seek a better rate to help us have more net profit to employ more people and be able to give more back to veteran organizations.
What kinds of disabilities do your workers have?
While we prefer to accent our workers’ awesome abilities, the people making HEAVENDROPt products have many different types of challenges. Our workers’ include people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, sight and hearing impairments, veterans with all types of disabilities (visible and 
invisible) and veterans with disabilities and their family members. Each group and individual has so much to offer in the process of making our products. Working with them and finding ways to spotlight their abilities and uncover new talents is a wonderful initiative.
Where does HEAVENDROPt make products
Currently products are made in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. Products are made at either our parent organization, Evergreen Life Service’s facilities, or at our non-profit partner facilities. We are 
also exploring contracts with various nonprofits employing people with disabilities in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Oklahoma. As we sell more products we are able to employ more workers with disabilities.
This video will give you a glimpse of how HEAVENDROPt products are made
How does HEAVENDROPt get used parachutes?
In 2018 we became a 3rd party Recycling facility exclusively for military parachutes. We currently house in our Largo, FL warehouse over 70,000 pounds of used military parachutes from WWII to Korea, Vietnam, and current ones used actively by our service men and women.
We are required to destruct all of the parachute cords on the parachutes that so that the parachutes cannot be used any longer because of the liability. Once we have someone prepare the parachutes according to military regulations. We process all the chutes and make kits depending on the product needs and send the kits to our Evergreen Divisions.
It is our belief that our product doesn’t just encompass the material but it helps tell the story of that material, from the person who used the parachute in Combat and training operations all over the world, to the person with disabilities that puts their heart and soul into making each individual product one of a kind.
https://www.facebook.com/heavendropt/videos/1951588704912205/
How does HEAVENDROPt decide what products to make?
We are constantly exploring and testing new designs in the Northwest Louisiana Design Center. Much of the consideration in a product design is the ability of the workforce to make products at a high quality level. This may take some training and testing. We also take into consideration how marketable the items are. Sometimes you’ll find these new products at an exhibit event. If the exhibit attendees like the item and it sells well, then we consider adding the item to our HEAVENDROPt line of products
How much are the workers paid?
We offer a fair and competitive wage based on the amount of a certain product a person can make each day. With our workforce, we want to set a reasonable goal based on ability of our workers.
We pay a set amount based on each item. We divide the production steps into sections so that there is a work opportunity for everyone who wants to work. We plan to keep our wages competitive since employment is a large part of our mission.
How does HEAVENDROPt support the military?
We buy the parachutes and help use them to celebrate the heroic mechanisms they were used for. 
We employ veterans with disabilities and work with veteran volunteers.
We donate to veterans organizations such as Special Operation Warrior Foundation,
Gary Sinise Foundation, Remember Honor Support and others.
The military parachutes are a large portion of our costs to make a product. We are trying to find a way to cut or stabilize those high costs. This includes working with government officials to consider the cost of these items to nonprofit organizations. If the costs are reduced we plan to hire more veterans and give more to veterans organizations.
Our main mission remains focused on continued employment for our amazing workers with disabilities.