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At Young Americans Center, we love sharing stories of youth entrepreneurs. So we ca
n’t wait to tell you about UPS, an AmeriTowne sponsor. UPS was originally the vision of two teenage business owners!
In 1907, 19-year-old James Casey and his friend Claude Ryan obtained a $100 loan from a Seattle-area bank and began making deliveries of letters, food, and other packages through their new business the “American Messenger Service.” They walked, used bicycles, and as business grew a few years later, acquired a delivery car. Now known as UPS (United Parcel Service), the teen’s endeavor is the world’s largest package delivery service, delivering an average of 15.8 million packages a day (28 million a day during the holidays!) to 220 countries around the world. At the same time, UPS remains committed to supporting local community programs and events.
The collaboration between Young Americans and UPS began 18 years ago when UPS first became a sponsor of Young AmeriTowne, thanks to an introduction by a UPS driver who was a parent volunteer in Young AmeriTowne. In addition to financial support, UPS provided a delivery cart and uniforms for the Parcel Service Shop to help students experience a day as a real UPS employee. Today, students still wear brown uniforms and hats, and in lieu of driving a UPS truck, push UPS carts to help with their deliveries.
Although the UPS Parcel Service at Young AmeriTowne doesn’t handle millions of deliveries, it nonetheless has an important role to play. A Parcel Service Carrier/Salesperson is responsible for the accurate transport of signed business checks, postcards, gift boxes, and online orders. Accountants then deposit the business checks in their shop’s bank account to back its bank loan. At the same time, customers expect that the products they’ve ordered online will arrive at their shop in a timely manner. In addition to providing deliveries around Towne, the Parcel Service shop also sells goods such as stamps and toys.
Young Americans Center is grateful for long-time supporters like UPS that have remained committed to providing an outstanding learning environment for Colorado youth. UPS helps provide fun, hands-on learning in financial education.
