the rain barrel project takes shape

Today I found another source of rain barrels here in Miami and at even better prices! These are plastic or metal food-grade barrels that used to contain olive oil or other spices. They are not cleaned, disinfected, and sealed like the other source but this guy has agreed to rinse them out and deliver them in batches of 50 or more for $15 each. He says he has about 100 of them at the present time and gets them in from time to time. He says some of them are open-topped and some are closed-top. I am probably going to go down there Saturday and get one of each for my speaking engagement at the High school next Teusday, on Parents Night. For about an hour I plan to answer any questions about this rain barrel project I can.
I have gained some experience with rain barrels over the past six months, using the two plastic 55-gallon barrels I have. There are 44 high school young people (EcoHawks) who are going to canvass their school first, to find any interested students, parents, or teachers and put them on a list. After the canvass of their school is complete they will begin to canvass our little community of 14,000 and add those names to the list. They will receive community service credits of course. I have also asked the leaders of the Boy and Girl Scouts to participate as a way to help them earn their ecology badges- no word back as of yet.
Once we have a list of at least 50 people we will schedule a free,two-hour seminar one Saturday morning and have the guy from the UF extension, Chris, come and show us how to construct a rain barrel properly. I got my first barrel at a seminar of his and he is very good at explaining the history and development of rain barrels, and providing the tools to help the attendees build them, if necessary.
If we can partner with a non-profit, any non-profit, Home Depot and Lowes will provide the accessories to make the rain barrels at a significant discount, their cost, or free. The accessories are spigots ($3 each), concrete blocks ($1.35 each), adjustable downspouts ($ 8 each), screening, drills and drill bits, and hoses. In these times of recession that would be helpful in keeping down the costs.
There is a lot of work to be done before this project takes off but I am optimistic that the Ecohawks are up to the task. Eventually I would like them make a website as a focal point of what is going on in their club, and to disseminte educational information to everybody who is interested. I also believe that this project could act as a substantial fundraiser for them in the future and demonstrate the being Green can be beneficial to the environment and themselves.