BIG Thanks to The Rotary Club of West Chester/Liberty

We owe a BIG THANK YOU to the Rotary Club of West Chester/Liberty for the wonderful breakfast and the generous grant of $1000 to Backpacks For Pine Ridge!  

The Rotary Club has been a friend of Backpacks For Pine Ridge for several years now.  This year we are especially excited that two of the Rotary Club members will be going to Pine Ridge Reservation with us to deliver the backpacks! 

What Does a Rock Band, a Bar, a Pastor's Wife, a Heating and Air Conditioning Guy and a Plumber Have in Common?

Its always amazing to me how things happen ... how one thing can touch someone and cause them to take action and before you know it, there's more good things happening. A case in point is that last summer when we did the REZonate Music Fest, we took one of the bands out to lunch. The guys from 8 Lives Spent had just gone above and beyond anything we ever expected. They drove all the way from Winchester, VA to Cincinnati, OH, bringing all of their equipment and families with them and would accept no payment at all - not even traveling expenses. They did it because they want to help make a difference in the lives of the Lakota people. At that lunch, Brian Holt, the drummer, asked me what they needed at Pine Ridge. I replied that they need heaters. Just that year we had learned that some of the people there resort to burning their furniture for heat when they run out of propane and cannot afford to buy more. If they had some space heaters, they would be able to at least have some source of heat.

Well, that touched Brian and he went back to Winchester and began making plans for a benefit to raise money for heaters. This past January, 8 Lives Spent, Tom Fitzgerald, Michael Fath and Brent Woodall played at The Virginia Brewing Company for that benefit. They raised $1500!

I came home and contacted Roy Hauser of Hauser Heating and Air who has also been a HUGE supporter of Backpacks For Pine Ridge. Roy got a good deal on heaters and last week Brody Jacobs of Jacobs Plumbing and Excavating picked them up! The 42 heaters are now sitting ready to go to the Rez this summer when the truck leaves. That means that 42 families will have heat next winter that may not otherwise have it.

Yes, its amazing.

Beautiful Giving

The doorbell rang a bit ago and as I opened the door the UPS guy was leaving. There was a small box on my doorstep so I brought it inside wondering what in the world it might be. I don't remember ordering anything recently.

The box was a beauty supply box. Strange, I was sure I didn't order any beauty supplies.(might need to do that though) The box was addressed to me so I cut it open and dug through the packaging.

And there in the bottom of the box was a bag of school supplies. Some glue, pen, pencils, erasers and rulers - all EXACTLY what I have asked for. A note was attached by someone in Pittsburgh, PA apologizing for not being able to give more.

Amazing. Just amazing.

I love it when CEO's of big companies get on board as they have this week, but I am completely touched all the way to the bottom of my heart when a complete stranger gives all they can afford to give.

Its appropriate that the package came in a beauty supply box. That kind of giving is indeed beautiful.