Pen Turning Assistance Needed

[David Brooks]

My name is David Brooks and I live in Lakewood Colorado. My wife (Melissa Hunter) and I started a nonprofit called Pens for First Responders. We have partnered with Rockler Woodworking and Hardware and the Front Range Woodturners (FRW) in Denver Colorado. We are participating in an event on October 28, 2026, to recognize National First Responder Day. We will be doing live pen turning demonstrations at Rockler (Denver) and any "active" Denver Colorado First Responder that stops by to watch a pen turning demonstration, will receive a custom ink pen, which was made my a FRW member. As of today, we have about 200 ink pens to give to "active" Denver Colorado First Responders. Besides this event, we have given ink pens to recent graduates of the Denver Colorado 911 Center, and we are planning to do this again on December 10th. We are working with the Denver PD, FD, and other organizations, to provide an ink pen to graduates of future training schools. I am a retired firefighter from the Fairfax County (Virginia) Fire and Rescue Department, and I recently reached out to them, to provide a custom ink pen to all future graduates from their six-month recruit school. I have also reached out to the Washington DC Fire Department, to do the same thing. As you can imagine, my wife and I cannot do this alone, which is the reason for this message. I am trying to find pen turners through the United States, that would be interested in turning pens for future graduations of police, fire departments, etc. For these graduations, we plan to give a Gatsby Twist Pen, to the graduates. We chose the Gatsby Twist Pen, because they are beautiful and easy to make, especially when we need to make several hundred each year. We are asking pen turners to assist us with this venture and help thank First Responders throughout the United States for their service. As a retired firefighter, I know the sacrifices First Responders make everyday.

Our nonprofit has been approved by the State of Colorado (20268136218) and our EIN (42-3135255) has been approved by the IRS.

Feel free to contact me at 303-495-4660 or you can reach me at my personal email (fcfrd10@gmail.com).

 

[NJturner]

I think this is a noble charity and effort and hope you succeed at it. You may encounter some resistance along the way from another charity drive - Pens for Vets which provides pens to active military personnel for writing to their families. Pens for Vet's has been in place for a number of years in turning clubs across the country and is also supported by Rockler.

As I write this, I am working on about 50 pens for the Sergeant Joe Kelly Pens for Vets program through the two AAW Woodturning clubs that I belong to. These are usually annual drives done by AAW participating clubs, usually in the 3rd quarter of the year.

Standardizing on one pen type is a very good idea - and you might want to go a bit further with that and suggest blank materials and finish types to insure consistency. Non pen makers who volunteer to help usually are not aware of the demands placed on a pen under heavy use and will utilize normal woodturning materials and finishes - which are items typically made and then admired versus a workhorse pen. A well made pen, with a durable finish like a properly applied CA will insure your gifts and donations last a long time and will be used proudly.

Wishing you great success!

Kevin