Don Brannen’s idea was simple. He would have Northside Teens build something marketable, teach them to take pride in their work, help the environment and partner with whoever was willing.

The project was monumental. He began by designing rain barrels that could be made by teens at McKie from donated barrels and hardware store parts. The advertisement began and orders started to arrive; one barrel today and another two next week. Soon word was getting out that we had a good quality, affordable and locally built rain barrel and the orders increased. The Vision Trek teens stepped up production.

The Cincinnati Enquirer had a short article about the rain barrel project and Don Brannen partnered with Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation to promote and sell the Teens product. Over 100 orders came in with delivery promised by the next week. The Northside Vision Trek Teens worked non-stop for one week making rain barrels. They set up a table in front of McKie Center on a Friday and Saturday to greet customers who had ordered barrels and to help sell and load barrels into customer’s cars.

Each rain barrel was made by Northside Teens. Each barrel has a sticker with the Vision Trek and CRC logo on it along with the signature of the teens who worked on that individual rain barrel. Not only did the group raise over $5500 dollars for summer trips but the Norhtside Teens learned valuable life skills and displayed great pride in what they were building and what they were part of; the McKie Teen Vision Trek Program.