on fundraising and gardens..

It's funny how climbing a heavily glaciated 14,000 ft peak doesn't daunt me as much as fundraising. I've climbed a few mountains (though not as big as Rainier), but I've never been part of fundraising event before. Last night, I actually dreamed of what I could do to fundraise. I was that anxious! My list of ideas so far:

- Instead of Christmas and birthday presents, I'm going to ask for donations.
- See about setting up a booth at the local farmers market. Perhaps sell reusable bags?
- Maybe get back into pastels, make a few pieces of the mountain and similar themes, and sell them. Perhaps at the local artwalk..
- fundraising potluck/BBQs.
-I think I may just raffle or sell my kayak and all its accessories. I very rarely use it anyways living in the desert!
- Make posters/flyers for friends and family to display at their workplace.
- Put donation cup at the local climbing gym, lunch room at work.

To say the least, I'm nervous.

I guess I have to remember that things take time to grow.. kind of like our garden at work.

A few months ago, there was just a round patch of dirt and weeds outside my office. And then my co-worker James decided to change that. He decided to just take out the weeds and put down some mulch and boulders, which was a big enough project for one person. As he worked, someone saw him sweating and began to help out. In the following months, I found a cheap bench online, and my supervisor Marcia bought it and brought it in. A lot of us were hurting from the loss of our co-worker Nicole, and working on the garden became a outlet for many of us. A few people planted plants. Another brought a birdfeeder. A birdbath was added. And after a while, many helping and generous hands later, we have a beautiful, lush garden. It's hard to believe there was anything else there before.

With the help of others and some commitment, projects that seem to hard or too big for one person are possible. Even snowball, like the garden. Yes, that sounds cliche, but it's funny how often we can get humbled to a standstill by large projects.

I'm glad that I just have to step outside of my office and look at the garden to see what big, beautiful things can be achieved - and remember, it all began with one person.

If anyone is curious to see the garden for themselves, and how it's grown (unfortunately, we don't have a "before" picture of it when it was just a dirt/weed-patch):

photo gallery of Nicole's Garden