My Luck Has Changed
Meet Daeshaun Moore, Blockworker of the Month
By Cara DeGette, GPHC Editor
The Greater Park Hill News delivery system is pretty ingenious: Volunteers – called blockworkers – receive a stack of newspapers each month. They walk around their square block and leave a newspaper on each doorstep for their neighbors. It takes maybe 20 minutes. This happens throughout Park Hill – a total of 14,000 newspapers are delivered every month.
The system works pretty well, as long as there is a volunteer on each block who is willing to do what is arguably the most important job at the newspaper – making sure readers get the paper so they can read it. Some Park Hill blockworkers have been at it for years, and every month the new issue arrives like clockwork.
The system is, admittedly, a bit spottier on other blocks. Take me, for example. I may be the editor of the paper, but in the past that hasn’t automatically assured delivery. No blockworker on my block meant no newspaper at my door. I had to go pick one up off a rack at one of many local businesses that also distribute the paper — or grab a copy at the GPHC office at 2823 Fairfax St.
A few months ago my luck changed. One sunny day Daeshaun Moore arrived in my life, with a smile and a copy of the latest issue. He thought it was pretty cool when I told him I was the editor of the paper he had just left at my door. I asked him if he’d be willing to tell me his story. He said sure.
Moore is 8 years old and has grown up in Park Hill. He’s finishing up second grade at Westerly Creek Elementary. This summer he’s planning to do some swimming, some camping, hit the basketball court and the Jumpoline Park in Aurora. He’s a writer, he makes pictures, and in school he likes music, gym, technology and drama. He’s thinking he’d like to be an artist eventually, when he grows up. He likes Reese’s peanut butter cups.
“This is the greatest neighborhood I’ve ever been in,” he says. “I really like delivering the papers because it’s great exercise. It’s fun to give out. I get to meet people. I also love the plants and enjoy nature.”
Moore also likes the element of surprise. Many neighbors, he notes, don’t see him as he’s out delivering. He likes the idea of them discovering the newspaper on their doorstep.
He reads the paper every month, and enjoys looking at the pictures. Last month’s Page 1 story and photo about Turtle Park, for example, was a big hit.
Moore doesn’t remember exact details of how it started, delivering the newspaper. He just knows his dad said it was OK for him to do it. “I decided I’d just go with the flow,” he says. He figures he’ll keep it up until he’s a teenager in high school, when he probably won’t have as much time to deliver newspapers.
Moore said he had to get going. He gave me a little wave. “See you next month, Boss.”
Note: Is your blockworker as awesome as Daeshaun Moore? Nominate him or her for a blockworker of the month profile by sending details to editor@greaterparkhill.org. Interested in becoming a blockworker and delivering newspapers to your neighborhood each month? Contact newspaper manager Melissa Davis at newspaper@greaterparkhill.org.