Free Umbrellas for the Walk to UNO

The walk to UNO is already long, and when it rains, it's absolutely devastating.

We are a group of students that have suffered this very issue and we want to offer a solution:

Umbrellas that are FREE FOR STUDENTS! 

Students are walking to and from UNO without rain gear during inclement weather. 

Have you ever walked outside without an umbrella?

Although the ponchos the school gives are helpful, we believe there's an even better, simpler solution: a set of shared, free umbrellas that students can use when walking to and from UNO.  These umbrellas would be deposited on the other side of the walk in designated drop-off bins.

Having free rain gear like this will help us stay dry, stay safe, and stay healthy.

Providing free rain gear to students will help them stay dry and stay safe

The members of our group are all students who have to walk to UNO on both A and B day cycles. The constant walks allowed us to notice the downfalls of having to walk in the rain. Many of us came to class wet when it was raining due to the unexpected weather that we encountered on our walks to and from UNO. 

We took into consideration many possible solutions: new weather plans, no more classes at UNO, more ponchos. Then we landed on a solution that we could spearhead ourselves: free rain gear for students! 

We talking with other students and many supported the idea of having free and accessible rain gear. One student pointed out that having freely accessible umbrellas will "help me get to my UNO classes faster."

Here's how it will work:

Rent and Return System:

We will distribute the free umbrellas using a rent and return system. Students are expected (using the honor code) to return umbrellas they use by the end of the day. Before we launch the full system, we will start a trial run to see if any umbrellas will get stolen. If we have no incidents of theft or misuse, we will launch the full system and allow students from Franklin to use the umbrellas to walk to UNO.

Proposed Locations:

Franklin location: Near the Lost and Found

UNO location: near room ED 102

The Umbrellas:

We will be using clear umbrellas, not only for identification purposes, but also since they were the best deal for the cost. We have also picked out some green stickers to help identify the clear umbrellas as being the designated Franklin umbrellas. The umbrellas will be placed in bins. 

Cost Breakdown:

• umbrellas - $133

• stickers - $7

• bins (potential additional cost) - $35

Financing:

We plan to fundraise through a bake sale or pizza sale through a club to cover the cost of the materials that we need.  

Trade-offs

Costs: Purchasing umbrellas will be expensive

Theft: The umbrellas may get stolen from students or may be left behind from students at UNO. 

Benefits

Although the costs will be difficult to cover, the price is still manageable. We have done our research and the materials will be able to be purchased within 1-2 bake sale or pizza sales. 

Though theft is possible, we plan to launch our project in phases, allowing us to adjust the process as the system gets used.