Wednesday, October 20, 1999

Inmates do good as they do time

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BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Inmate Daniel Johnson sews straps onto backpacks near his cell block at the Warren Correctional Institution. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        Inmates at 22 of Ohio's 31 prisons are working thousands of volunteer hours to provide the Tristate's neediest students and their teachers with free school supplies.

        The program, Crafts with Conviction, is coordinated by Bond Hill-based Crayons to Computers, a free store for teachers that opened in 1997.

        “To make use of prison labor is a win-win for everyone,” said Shannon Carter, Crayons' CEO and president.

        Crafts with Conviction is giving prisoners such as Daniel Johnson, convicted of aggravated murder and serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Warren Correctional Institution, something constructive to do.

        It's saving Donna Giglia of A.D. Owens Elementary in Newport and other teachers time and money on materials they'd otherwise make or buy.

        It's keeping tons of industrial scrap, runovers and imperfections out of landfills.

CRAYONS TO COMPUTERS

The free store for teachers opened Feb. 11, 1997, and teachers take an average of $200 in merchandise with them each visit.   Crafts with Conviction is one of its programs to increase the amount of school supplies available to teachers.   The only thing the store asks for in return is a thank-you note from students and teachers to the individual or corporation that donated goods such as paper, pencils, pens and used computers and computer parts.   A running tally sheet greets visitors to the Bond Hill warehouse.   • Value of items given away: $3 million.   • Students served: 50,000 in nine-county area: Butler, Brown, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren in Ohio; Boone, Campbell and Kenton in Kentucky; and Dearborn in Indiana.   • Schools served: 280; 150 schools in which 60 percent or more of students qualify for free-lunch program; 130 schools in more affluent districts whose teachers volunteer in the warehouse to earn free shopping visits.   • Address: 1250 Tennessee Ave., Bond Hill.   • Phone: 482-7095.

        Ultimately, the program is putting backpacks, paper, flashcards, pencils, notebooks and other supplies in the hands of students who probably would go without.

        Organizers say Crafts with Conviction is working so well that prison officials in other states are studying it, and at least one county jail in Florida has already picked up the idea.

        “It's not just a good endeavor for Crayons to Computers and the students,” Bill Thorman said. He is bureau chief of community service for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, whose 47,000 inmates make it that nation's fifth-largest.

        “This is good for our inmates who otherwise sit in their cells,” Mr. Thorman said. “It's helping us reduce idleness.”

        Community service coordinators at the prisons drive to Crayons to Computers' warehouse and pick up raw materials.

        At Lebanon Correctional Institution, inmates cut and package excess paper into 2-inch stacks of 8¹/₂-by-11 sheets. Then they shrink-wrap it and pile it on skids that are delivered to Crayons to Computers.

        “The inmates like doing it,” said Mike Reffitt, superintendent of the Lebanon's validation shop, which makes motor vehicle stickers and 30-day tags for the state. “They especially like when they get letters from students thanking them and saying they'll use the paper and take care of it.”

        At Warren Correctional, inmates in the Protective Custody unit make several items for Crayons to Computers.

        Using donated sewing machines and children's scissors (no sharp points), a dozen inmates cut and sew material that's used to cover cushions for lawn furniture into see-through backpacks. They also cut and sew felt into chair covers in which students can store books and pencils. There's also a roller die machine that allows inmates to cut hundreds of colorful paper upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and shapes that are neatly assembled in 30-count packages.

        Ms. Giglia has flashcards, wooden clocks, 25-page journals and letters and numbers made by prisoners in her third-grade classroom at Owens Elementary in Newport.

        “It has saved me a lot of time,” she said of the inmates handiwork. “The kids write letters to thank them. The kids thought prisoners just lifted weights all day. So we talked about how they did some bad things and have to work every day to pay back society. And they're helping us by making these things.”

        At Warren Correctional, six sewing machines were arranged around the walls of a small room. Mr. Johnson worked a sewing machine, attaching pockets to the felt chair covers.

        “A lot of these kids couldn't have these things if we didn't make them,” said Mr. Johnson, 39, a former Addyston resident and bigamist who was convicted in 1990 of murdering his estranged first wife and burying her body on the Indiana farm where he lived with his second wife.

        Because the goods go directly to needy students, the inmates get an extra boost from their work, said Jennifer Ward, Warren's job coordinator and community service director. She's also the person who drives a van full of finished items to Crayons to Computers every afternoon. The Crafts with Conviction booth empties daily.

        David McLoughlin, 31, of Columbus is serving a life sentence for murder. He sports a tattoo on his left arm that reads “hell bound.”

        “I'm in here 10 hours a day, seven days a week,” Mr. McLoughlin said while putting paper numbers and letters into packages. “It's better to stay busy.”

        Kristopher Miller, 33, of Medina, Ohio, is serving five to 15 years for theft and robbery.

        “It makes me proud to do this,” he said as he pinned pockets to felt chair covers. “We're here for things we did wrong in our past. There are a lot of jobs you can do in prison that don't mean anything, like pushing a broom. This means something because it's helping kids who really need the stuff we make.

        “When I go back to my cell at night, I feel like I did something good. Kids are our future.”

       

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