The Franklin Update: Cereal Boxes

Monday, February 7, 2011

Cereal Boxes - Shipping Details

Many of you are asking about the details for shipping the cereal boxes to The ApParent Project in Haiti. It takes a little extra effort - but it's easy. Thanks to a wonderful Sea Container Ministry out of Grand Rapids, Michigan called Rays of Hope for Haiti.

First of all, go through all of your collected cereal boxes. Make sure that they are all flattened out and that they are all 8 inches or larger. Also, mind the thickness. You don't want the cardboard to be too stiff. Remember, the artisans need to be able to roll it into a bead.

Next, find a shipping box a little larger than your cereal boxes and start stacking them inside. This is where your Tetris skills come in handy. Pack as many boxes into it as possible, filling all the space - without bending the boxes. I just kept stacking and pressing down. When I was finished, I had to squeeze the box together with my legs in order to tape it shut!

Go to Rays of Hope for Haiti and click on the "Shipping" tab. Then click "Shipping Forms". Down at the bottom is a link for Sea Container Ministry Packet. Go ahead and print that out. It will have all your needed info. You must fill out the Contact Information Sheet and the Manifest Packing List. You also need to print off the Shipping Labels and fill those out.

Your Receiving Organization Information is:

ApParent Project
13 Rue Dahlia, Delmas 75
Port Au Prince, Haiti

Contact Person: Shelley Clay
Phone # 3194-1267
E-Mail: shelleyinhaiti@gmail.com

On the shipping labels you can just write: Shelley Clay/ApParent Project

On the Manifest Packing List (Used for Customs) fill in the contact name and info on top and then the description would be "empty cereal boxes"

Once you have all the paperwork filled out, measure your box. Length x Width x Height. Divide that by 1728 and then multiply that number by 8.

Example: 21 x 14 x 9 = 2646 divided by 1728 = 1.53 Now take 1.53 x 8 = 12.24

So this box will cost $12.24 to put on the Sea Container to Haiti. Enclose a check made out to Rays of Hope for Haiti for $12.24 and seal your box up with all the completed paper work laying on top of your cereal boxes inside. Then ship it to Rays of Hope for Haiti.

The address is:
Rays of Hope for Haiti
446 Grandville Ave. SW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Loading Dock #6

If you have more than one box to ship - mark the outside of the box 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3, etc. Just put all of your papers and one check for all the boxes in the first box. Mark the first box "Packing List Enclosed" - that way they will know to open it and get your paperwork out. Otherwise the box will just sit. They do not put it on the Sea Container until they have payment.

Now, let me take a moment and explain Rays of Hope for Haiti. This is a Sea Container Ministry which allows us to pay by cubic foot for anything going to Haiti. Once their Sea Container is full, they put it on a ship and take it to Haiti. Part of their ministry is taking care of all of the customs and documentation needed. Normally, when you just ship something to Haiti, the government requires the recipient to pay $1.50 per pound to receive it. I packed up 5 boxes and the total weight was over 130 pounds. If I were to just send it to ApParent Project, it would cost them $200.00 to receive it! With Rays of Hope for Haiti, those same 5 boxes are going to cost me $42.16 to put in the Sea Container and it will NOT cost anything for Shelley to receive it. Now - it will cost me to get them to Grand Rapids, but that's going to be the same no matter where I ship in the US.

I hope that this is helpful to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Franklin4@truevine.net or you can also call and talk to Rays of Hope for Haiti at (616) 633-4258. They were very friendly and very helpful in answering all of my questions.

Thanks so much! I can't wait to hear when Shelley begins to receive all these shipments! I pray that they are blown away!!!!

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