David Barlow

In 1988 I read Og Mandino's book, The Greatest Miracle in the World and became a Ragpicker. As one of my first efforts to be a Ragpicker, I became a "Peer Tutor" for Daniel who was one of the "Peers" with mental and emotional disabilities I tutored. I had no idea at the time how much my friendship with Daniel would change my life or how it would continue to
change my life over twenty years later.

Daniel is my "Bud," besides that, he’s my friend.

As Daniel's peer tutor, my job was to help him learn basic life skills to help him be more independent as he got older; things like how to ride the bus, fold laundry, shop for groceries and count money. What I found, was that he taught me more important things than I would teach him. He taught me the true meaning of love and friendship and what it means to "be there."

I'm not sure when we stopped calling each other by our given names. David and Daniel were quickly and simply replaced with "Bud." "Bud" became our name in common, the one we shared and knew each other by.

The best way to understand our special friendship is to take the time to watch the following video clip that started it all...



After our story was picked up by Good Morning America back in 1990, David has been requested as a keynote speaker for service, church, civic, leadership and school groups to tell the "Daniel and David" story and bring a spirit of friendship, love and social responsibility to the organizations and communities we visit. Daniel often accompanies David to the events.

Join David and Daniel and Become a Ragpicker Today

David and Daniel Today

David and Daniel are still involved in each other’s lives and remain "Bud's."

Daniel is a registered Ragpicker on this website and is member of the Board of Directors and is actively involved with David in promoting the mission ragpicker.org.

Daniel and the Amulets

Daniel Daniel works at Enable Industries. Enable Industries provides training, jobs and modest paychecks to adults with physical and mental disabilities. This allows their employees to make real contributions to society, get valuable training and ease the financial burden on their families.

We are proud to inform you that ALL of the Ragpicker Amulets purchased from this site are cut out, packaged, and shipped by Daniel and his friends at Enable Industries. Additionally, any books purchased from this site are also warehoused and shipped by Enable Industries.

Daniel wanted you to know that he personally may have been the one to cut out and package your Ragpicker Amulet.

David Barlow's Non-Profit Experience

Mr. Barlow is no stranger to the non-profit sector. Barlow began his work in the non-profit world in 1994 as the Executive Director for Hall of Fame Quarterback, Steve Young's non-profit corporation. As Executive Director, Barlow worked with Nike, Visa, private individuals, government grants and other non-profits to promote the mission of the foundation. During his four-year tenure as Executive Director he successfully launched the "Be a Sport" campaign and helped secure the foundation as an official licensee of both the Salt Lake Olympic Committee and the Unites States Olympic Committee.

He is also a past board member of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. Additionally, Barlow is currently the Vice President of Development for the Statue of Responsibility Foundation (www.sorfoundation.org).

Mr. Barlow enjoys the outdoors, writing, and competing in Triathlons. He resides in Alpine, Utah with his wife and four children. In his spare time Barlow is an inspirational keynote speaker for corporate, civic and youth leadership events.

Join David and Daniel and Become a Ragpicker Today