Salvageable Nuggets Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to empowering students grades K-12 by providing educational resources to determine their strengths, gifts/talents and interests, then exposing them to various fields of prospective occupations relevant to their individual strengths and interests.
My name is Richard Lister and I am the founder and President of Salvageable Nuggets, Inc., and, by the way, I am a “salvaged nugget”. I am a veteran Bio-Med Tech with various other technical and vocational certifications. Having volunteered at numerous public schools providing presentations about my occupation, I observed eye-opening interests in the medical field alone. Not to mention questions asked pertaining to other professions requiring my off-time research to provide accurate and proper information. The more I experienced these inquisitive minds, the greater my inspiration to explore broadening the students’ interests in other areas of professionalism that they were oblivious to.
As a young person growing up in a very large immediate family with limited to no resources, I had a vision to one day build something that would revolutionize concepts and methodologies. In fact, since my family could not afford toys at Christmas, I resorted to building my own (and they worked well too! So much so that kids across town would come over to play with my hand made toys and would offer me their brand new toys for trade). Now, I realize that from the time a child is born they have two paths leading to two different destinations: one path leading to potential, and the other leading to peril. Thankfully, I received both affirmation and confirmation from school teachers and businessmen and women in my community that encouraged my potential to overcome my peril which has ultimately resulted in my visions becoming a reality; including patents, patents pending and other intellectual property research and developments as well as prototyping.
Not all children can attest to the same inadequacies and lack of resources, but there is one common denominator: they all have the potential to dream big and succeed in something that they enjoy doing. This prompts them to make the necessary sacrifices, and ultimately make their dream a reality after being provided a roadmap and the required tools to do so. This is our goal. To meet them where they are, with what they have, then build from that; enabling them to establish a vision, and set goals to achieve that vision.
Our world is inundated with salvageable nuggets; from the gifted and talented Kindergartner, to the alternative school student, to the products of the Department of Juvenile Criminal Justice. They are everywhere.