Hickey became involved with the project through the request of his neighbor, but quickly found a way to engage project management skills from his business degree. This project was an experiential learning opportunity, Hickey explained, a chance to put ideas into practice.
“A big part of my educational journey is to learn things by doing,” Hickey said. “Finishing up this degree, taking what I’ve learned, the minutiae I'm getting from the business department and applying it to things that I thought I already knew, has helped me understand the processes better.”
As tools coordinator, Hickey created a spreadsheet of all the tools they had and helped spread the word, asking for tools still needed, updating their inventory as the donations poured in. He meticulously tracked use of every item on work days using a barcode system.
“We had drop-off days, somebody came in and donated 45 pieces of his own personal equipment including circular saws, hand drills, hand saws. It was really miraculous to see,” Hickey said. “We managed to inventory 875 individual tools, but there were definitely more than a thousand items that were in use.”