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people Sports Nation what is up everybody Welcome to
episode 326 of sports card Nation glad to be back uh we have a guest uh returning for
part two two of our conversation greg p of can's can Ministries who operates the
only 100% not for-profit LCS and doing
other things for his community we had him on last week uh if you missed that
go back and and check that episode out we're continuing our conversation uh this week to to conclude
it and uh after last week's show my friend Terry who is a friend of mine I
play softball with him um he's not a real active collector but he he did
collect uh back in the day well he heard that episode and he said John I'm going
to drop off uh something near your back gate didn't want to come in my house is
kind of batling like flu and colds and he was going to visit his his 96y old
mom uh God bless her so he didn't want to risk anything but he left it near my back gate and it was a box full of like
memorabilia couple you know Jim Kelly autograph helmet hat some vintage cards
uh Hank Aaron coin Man coin some ticket stubs some
magazines uh some apparel a little little bit of everything and he said hey
I want you do work your magic sell what you can sell and any money raise can you
give it to can's can so uh we're going to do that I'm I'm estimating it'll be
when said and done it'll be two or 300 bucks I think I've already even moved about
$140 uh worth of it so you know that's those great stories right about the
hobby community and just the community in general coming together to to help
someone who's doing good things right that stuff I always say that stuff is is
contagious and uh if you know the this the where you can help is in the show
notes uh so if you wanted you you know even if you're not local my story and my friend is a local one where he dropped
it off but they you can ship it to them if you want to send even just a financial donation you can do that uh as
well that the the information is in the show notes and so Greg is back today we're going to talk more about uh the
hobby what he does how it all kind of came to be so quick break and then we'll
be back right back with more from Greg pool of can's can Ministry for nearly 50
years Sports collector's digest has been the voice of the hobby bringing you comprehensive coverage of the sports
collectible industry from industry news auction results market analysis and in-depth stories about collectors and
their collections Sports collector digest has everything you need to know about the hobby SCD is also your leading
source for listings of sports collectible dealers card shops card shows and the latest from the industry's
top companies to check out all the latest news or to subscribe to the Hobby's oldest magazine visit
sportscollectors digest.com or call 1800829
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apply all right Greg pul has returned for part two of our conversation we're
going to start off the conversation talking about uh his show circuit how he sets up at shows promoters you know
cooperation non-cooperation and that that sort of thing so here we are with
the conclusion from last week's conversation with Greg P of can's can
Ministry you mentioned shows is do you do you set up at shows as you know real
one question at time let me you mentioned like the name is not sort of you know kind of doesn't illustrate what
you do where does cans can come from kind of so people know like so when you
know when I was a teenager and decided this was the route we were going to go I really was very still still very private
on what we were doing and kind of how we were doing it and so um as a High School
Junior and senior I really kind of disguised this as a service project and
so can's can when we initially when I was like hey this is what we're doing um I really just kind of painted it as we
would collect recyclables um because I really didn't want to say hey I'm
selling everything I own and we're going to give it away I didn't want those red flags to be raised I didn't want people
to really ask questions and so in my Infinite Wisdom I decided like I said to
just kind of hide what we were doing behind um like like I painted like a school service project and so um by the
time I really got comfortable with our story and kind of telling everybody you know really what it was all about The
Branding had kind of stuck with our seniors and those that we were helping and so I really didn't want to change
that because of what they were able to associate that with and so um it is
terrible branding but it does still it it brings that question on like hey I don't understand what your business name
is could you tell me a little bit about it so it's really A Conversation Piece now uh but yeah it really doesn't
describe what we do very well um and I I can't even remember what the other question was but yeah so that was That's
The Branding question oh the you yeah well let me let me just say this regardless of of of the name of the
organization right like you said you you've built a reputation of following uh people care so like you said the the
name is is what it is it doesn't affect how successful uh you are and because
you are Su you know you don't want to change it I and I I I get that the other question which you you know shows do you
do you how how many do you attend you know I'm assuming you set up and then anything you sell at the show you I know
you mentioned 100% uh goes to to to charity all proceeds or go to help
people I hope I don't want to I don't want to jinx this by kind of saying it beforehand you know as someone who does
shows myself and used to promote shows many moons ago I hope the promoters kind
of work and work with you whether it's you know a free table or or something uh
you know to kind of get you set up there but kind of talk about your presence at
shows so um our presence at shows so we typically do five or six depending on
kind of what is in our area um we're in Southern Illinois so I will say that
whenever people say we're from Illinois we're about five and a half hours south of Chicago so we're kind of the
Forgotten part of Illinois so we do go to St Louis a little bit there are some shows in our area um so we do try to set
up at least five or six a year um now I will say that what we do at those shows can vary and so there is one
local show that we will just set up free tables so um we will bring boxes packs
um a little bit of supplies and we will honestly just let kids go to town um let
let them pick up packs top loaders whatever they need and then uh we'll bring in Monster boxes and they can make
own packs um so we do that and then we also yeah we also do just your typical show setup where we will bring in stuff
for sale and yeah 100% of everything we sell goes back in uh what we do and we also have no overhead like there's no
we're we're all volunteer I don't get paid to do what we but yeah so that's our show like I said five or six a year
um we've tried the last several years we'd really like to go to the National we haven't been successful in getting a
table at that but like that would be like show dream would be able to get into the national and um you know to
spread our message there but uh we're working our way up to that have promoters of these shows that you attend
are they pretty fair and they they treat you fairly for what you're doing that
can kind of vary too and so um with the ones that we sell at we are just like
any other vendor and and I understand that and we don't want to be special I guess um the free tables has it's been
interesting we we no longer attend a show because some of the vendors um were not happy that we were setting up free
areas for kids and so um one of the the promoters just won't sell us anymore and
I get that too a little bit I mean I guess you know if we're taking away business then we don't want to do anything to Sully the hobby but it's
kind of all over the place like I said um and it kind of goes back to what I talked about just being in the shop uh
it's difficult to talk or to understand what we do without having a conversation
and so you know I guess if you're like hey I'm just going to give stuff away without any context behind it people
people just go oh well they're taking business away from us or if we're coming in to sell again we're just like any
other dealer and again that's kind of how we want to be but it's it's been all over the place yeah that's too bad to
hear that you know dealers are like as a dealer myself right we talk about kids in the hobby that's a bit I started you
know in 1979 as a seveny old uh kid they're the next you know we're talking
about a race right the you know we our race is going to end and we have to pass that baton to that next generation and
so you know it's sad to hear maybe dealers take those stances but we need those I love seeing kids at a show I
don't care whether it's my table or someone else's table the fact that they're at that show and interested in
the hobby like that's a terrible take and again I don't want to paint with a broad brush here um but that that would
that would warm my heart seeing kids active in hob it does whenever I see it
so it's really you know I guess to everyone has a you know they're entitled to their opinion but um you know if you
don't know what someone's doing before you pass judgment right find out and I think if they knew I think if they knew
Greg maybe they'd have a different opinion I think I think it's just so easy to be grumpy and complain about
stuff especially when you don't know the whole story yeah and you know you mention you mentioned getting kids The
Hobby and that is like again like I we really preach you know when we go into schools and and a lot of teachers will
use for giveaways but we talk about the community that it builds and the social interactions and and and that's great
and that and we want to get kids in the hobby for that reason and then yeah you know you have to build a base because there's not a generation behind us you
know sometimes things are only worth what people are willing to pay and if there's not a generation behind us um
you know we may be caught with our hand in the cookie jar but then the other thing in our area is we serve so many
lowincome kids like at our local grade school the poverty the poverty rates like
73% so about seven out of every 10 kids lives you know below the poverty line and sometimes the hobby can be
inaccessible uh to those kids and so you know just being able to even give them a
blaster box or you know a new product or you know even just singles that they can they can kind of build on and have
something that you know they they really probably couldn't afford uh otherwise that you know like I said there's it's
multifaceted the things that we do when you start involving kids there's a lot of different re that we serve those kids
so Greg you know you you do obviously a lot for kids and and you know they get a
lot of stuff hobby stuff uh like you mentioned uh no strings attached uh free
of charge and I believe that stuff is contagious I really do it I
wholeheartedly believe that and so I think that young young boy young girl if
they stay in the hobby obviously they're going to get older probably start you know have a part-time job then a
full-time job and obviously if they love the hobby stay in the hobby they're going to mount a massive bigger
collection but I think they'll remember you know uh getting that stuff uh from
your organization and I think they'll pay it forward um you know do you you
agree with that or is it something you already started to see yeah so really we
have seen um and and not just with kids but really once people come in to the
shop and see what we do and they see the resource center we've really had um
really good luck and a really great experience with people just becoming involved in our organization now um you
know when U like I said I mentioned earlier Ryan Fagan he when he came down to write for the sporting news about
halfway through he said hey I'm gonna be completely honest like I kind of when I came down here I thought this was going
to be some kind of throwaway and he said this is a lot more than even I anticipated and now we're blessed Ryan's
on our board like you know and so it's the same when we have kids in and we
start um you know just we just open our doors and we open the cases I mean obviously nobody's leaving with any 33
GES or anything but you know when it's no strings attached and so uh we've been really blessed with those parents and
even those kids that when we do an event at an assisted living facility they're there and they're there their boots on
the ground and so it's not even just a hobby uh you know a people thing and yeah it's our hope that you know just by
showing them a little bit of kindness that yeah they they remember that and down the road um you know they share the
love and like it doesn't have to be hobby way but we'd love for it to be a pay forward hobby way um you know that
you this hobby means it's more than dollars and bucks um you know we see I
know when I collected as a kid I almost never thought about what the value of
this return was to me know if I had something that was expensive you know did it did I was like oh my gosh I got
something you know an 89 griffy rookie or whatever but I never collected with
that dollar in mind like I have to flip this it's worth a $100 and so really
like I said if we can even instill in these kids that that what we do in this hobby is more you know it it does that
sentimental value is always going to be more valuable to me um than than a h
than than a card was worth and even just those memories of trading with friends and and family and and you know
associating players with games that you've went to or watched with a grandparent like it it's just really
something that you can build on and and like I said and it's kind of a scattershot answer but that it can do so
much with just so little yeah no it makes sense in the hobby you know I think most people I know I can you know
I collect I'm in the hobby because my grandfather bought me my first first you know packs of cards and we all usually
have a family or friend Connection to the Hobbies but that's more often the story than not the the story and that's
that's important um as well and it's you know it's nice to hear some of that Pub
you know whether it be like you said Ryan Fagan's article the card life that creates some buzz and makes people aware
what you're doing and gets a little bit of that you know ground swell going I I
got to ask this and I hope you I hope the answer's a good one you know you mentioned like doing shows I like to
think as a dealer myself right that and I'm not talking about the dealers that maybe don't like what kind of the you
know the scenario you mentioned earlier but uh I like to think you know to some dealers who who are aware of what you're
about and what you do and you know I hope they come up and say hey here's here's some stuff sell it uh give it you
know it's for you to do what you're doing towards the Ministries or bring it to the store and move it there do you
get do you get any of that at at the show level or or I'm hoping the answer
is yes it's it's picking up steam and again um that again relies on the
conversation that we have with him and that's part of the reason amongst many others that we're an open book um but
yeah it's starting to pick up um you know and here's the deal it doesn't even have to be something to sell
um we had somebody the other day that brought in um that bought a bunch of early releases of the 25 tops and they
brought it in and we pack it up and give it out to kids and so just like something as easy as that to have a new
product that we can give to kids that's huge and so yeah that definitely is picking it well I'm I'm glad to hear it
and uh hopefully that continues to to go in that direction time for a quick break
but we'll be right back hi hobby hotline is the Hobby's
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we hear a lot of the bad stuff in the Hobby and and it's like news right people sort of you know that gets the
ratings or certain people like that sort of thing um I like uh we have to talk
about the bad stuff some sometimes but the the the good stuff uh for every bad story there's 10 good ones and that's
sometimes I don't think we covered that uh uh enough um how about Hobby companies and and when I say Hobby
companies I'm not just talking tops and Panini but others and even like other companies supply companies ultr Pro bcw
things along those lines have any of those really like picked up on this and and reached out again to get involved or
help out um we have not had any real luck at that level um we have reached
out unfortunately the love has not been reciprocated um again that door is
always open we'd love to talk to anybody from any company um no not not not
really no unfortunately okay well let's uh let's see if we can you know I'm only one person but maybe we can uh you know
hopefully change the answer uh to that question um I think it should you know let's be real it does it's not going to
hurt them it's frankly as you well know it's a tax write off for anyone that
that does help out uh you can never get enough of those some the pay taxes
myself um and and on the company level uh as well and I I'd like to see I I
hope the next time you're on and we have this conversation again I hope they answer to that question uh might might
be different and I think I I'm gonna you know I'll stick up for them only maybe in this sense maybe they're not as aware
of of it as they can be and and you know we can maybe do something about that kind of put them put them on the hot
seat as far as like hey let's let's do something here but uh you know I'd like to see that and again there's um you
know plenty of great people who work at these places uh as well so hopefully
that that changes I guess we'll kind of you know coming down to the home stretch
here you know first off uh kudos to you Greg for what you're doing uh for not
just the hobby but just humans in in general right people who need it uh you
know schools uh you know elderly population uh mental health issues uh uh
as well which is a a huge a huge thing and and and one of the most important
you know issues uh in society and I think you're really you know you're not really it's not one thing you're doing
it's a whole bunch of a lot of great things and I think that's important to give you credit like you said you do
this out of the kindness of your heart uh this isn't your your full-time job
although this probably days probably feels like it at at some points and It's
a Grind too right like it's while it's it makes you feel good because you're doing it um it's still a grind there's a
lot of work uh involved um you know I I wanted to kind of tip my hat to you for
for for doing it uh and uh someone who's dealt with some mental issue you know
mental health issues um you know that that that's important to you and I think it's uh it's important for every budy so
kudos to you I guess my question is you know kind of what's what's on the horizon what what is the future uh like
what do you where do you want to take the organization you know Rome wasn't built in the day per se but like what
would you where do you want to go uh eventually so we really just want to keep on I mean I guess number one is
just to keep on the path that we're on um in and to be sustainable I mean you mentioned the grind we do have to kind
of grind like any shop or any dealer does the hobby does provide us the
ability that um you know if we have something that comes up we can kind of
just like I said grind it out a little more we can our budget's not set and so if somebody comes to us with a need we
can then rely on the hobby to to fill that budgetary Gap um the flip side of
that is when you don't have a set income you don't have set sources it can really freak you out and so um so really like
the stat keeping status quo is is going to always be it but we really do want to
grow because um you know I kind of alluded to it earlier we do live in a lot of a lot of the communities in our
area are under impoverished and so we do while we do a lot of things there are
more that we can do um we really would like to grow this shop um we've kind of
begun exploratory phases on what it looks like to get more space um we really would like to get you know you
mentioned companies we really would like Partnerships that's the only way we really can grow because um a large chunk
of our inventory comes from out of pocket from me um we try not to spend any Ministry money or any program money
on refilling the shop so we do that out of pocket um my wife has said that she
just stops asking when packages come in because she knows that what they're going to go towards um and so really
growing the shop um one of the things that we'd like to grow it for is um my
wife well I work for a special ed Cooperative my wife teaches and a Downs uh autism classroom we would really like
to start incorporating them some sort of job training um that's an area in our that's a poor a part of our area that
really lacks they don't really have um next steps after they age out of school and so we're really looking at bringing
them in um both well in whatever capacity whether it be they're in the shop whether they're doing inventory um
whether they're doing we do a repack program for kids they make our repacks for us um so we would really love to
grow um and like I said the dream would be that we kind of find some of these larger companies to come along aside
beside us because that's that's how we can grow quicker I guess and um yeah so
that's that's the dream like I said we we keep bugging the national we'd really like to be at the national the center of
the collector universe that seems to be where it's at um so you know those type
of things are where we'd like to go um those people probably wish that I would stop emailing them and um sending of
messages on Twitter because I can be kind of pesty and persistent but yeah that's that's the dream um you know and
like I I've said it before like what we're doing is is completely duplicatable um so if anybody any hobby
people have any you know they have any questions about what we what we do is not exclusive uh you can definitely do
it wherever you're at with whoever you're working with and whatever portion of society you want to help yeah well
said well done and listen keep pestering uh sometimes that's what it takes um I
hate to say it like that but sometimes you know you got to really beat the drum until people hear it I'm going to try to
do some things uh you know no lip service I'm going to try to do some things uh on my end you know hopefully
you know doesn't fall on deaf ears but you don't know you know you don't you can't succeed if if you don't try right
so don't quit trying uh I'll try to see you know what we can do a little bit uh
our on our end but uh you know again uh any you know what you're doing is
tremendous you don't need me obviously to to tell you that so um Greg I
appreciate you appreciate for what you do I appreciate you I know you're busy making some time coming on should have
had you on sooner that's uh that's my bad but uh better late than never and we'll we'll have you back again as long
as you you'll come back and kind of do a a followup and hopefully we we can change some of the answers to the the
questions I asked next time we both won't be anticipating uh winter blizzard
I know we we're Illinois New York and I think we're I think I think our your weather then just comes across and gets
us in in New York so hopefully it'll be uh it'll be better weather and all that
on stuff and and the national as well you know I know they got new leadership uh sometimes that that that makes a
difference too hopefully uh you know I'm gonna like I said I got a couple feelers
I can throw out there so I can't promise but it's it you know you you don't it's
like the Jordan line right you you don't miss the shot you don't take so if I
took no for an answer I wouldn't be married yeah there you go that yeah that makes
sense so uh you know but uh again uh continued success appreciate what you're
doing it's not easy right it's not easy to do that um even though maybe you make
it look that way but it's important I want to give you here the last word Greg uh where people who are are hearing this
that want to get involved whether it be a financial donation um uh you know
cards or something else um whether it be whether they're local or not local maybe
you know they like you said you receive stuff in the mail what get out you know social media website anything you know
take your time whatever you want to share uh to get the word out there about can Canan go ahead so we do we do have a
website it's cancan bent. org uh we do have a donate tab on there where you can
donate financially there is um addresses there's forms you can fill out if you would like to donate product to us um
and honestly we'll take anything the only thing at this point that my wife says that cannot come in our house is
any more 91 Fleer she doesn't know anything about she doesn't know anything about baseball cards but he says I've
seen enough yellow borders um to know that none of that can come in um and so we are on Facebook we are on Twitter uh
K can can Ministry um and we have learned now with some of the companies
that we have talked to social media following is a big uh plays a big part into deciding which companies are going
to help you or what they're going to do for you and so so even if it's just a follow at Twitter or a follow on our
Facebook page that's extremely helpful um yeah so those are the main things like I said we'll we'll take products if
you're in driving distance we'd love to have you in the shop uh we'd love to do a tour with you to to kind of connect
some of these dots in person um but yeah those are those are the main ways to to to help us out yeah no doubt and again
not that we do it for this reason and you shouldn't be the reason but you know when you do stuff like that it is a tax
wrer so whether you're your tops or Jim Smith and you know desmo Iowa uh it's a
it's a tax right up and so that's the that's the perk you get but the real perk is you know when you're making a
difference uh in someone's life helping someone out and so that's that's the
more important uh perk uh of them so Greg uh thanks thanks for coming on love
to have you back and kind of see where you know see where you are and if again if some of those answers to those
questions uh you know have changed for for the positive sure all right awesome
having Greg on getting him on kind of talking about what he does the importance and that's the thing he it's
not even just hobby guys it's it's outside the Hobbies helping elderly
folks um you know people inside the Hobbies school kids who may not even collect cards so you know uh again shout
out to to Terry who dropped some stuff off but you can help as well check the show notes for how to contact can's can
Ministries and get involved whether it's a a $5 donation you send them some stuff
to resell no strings attached whatever you can do makes a big
difference right all these little Pebbles make a big wave together and so
uh you know I implore you if you're able to uh you know you got some extra stuff
you don't know what to do with uh maybe you're near uh where where Greg is or
you if you're not right ship it to them uh to tax right off obviously maybe not doing it for that reason but that's a
nice uh Fringe perk extra perk uh as well so hope to Hope to hear that some
people got involved uh after hearing the uh part two or part one or both parts uh
of this conversation thank you all right we're going to hear from our hobby uh hobby is the people announcer of the
week come back with some closing thoughts and that'll wrap up this week's episode time for our hobby is the people
announcer of the [Music] week hey this is Herman from personal
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