“Three decades together isn’t just time — it’s a tapestry of shared dreams, laughter and love.”
As I begin my 30th year here, it seems so hard to gain perspective. Katie suggested I look at 10 years ago. What I wrote in our annual report in 2016 was the great Einstein quote, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” In today’s world that quote is now attributed to William Bruce Cameron. I guess what I’ve learned is that sometimes it doesn’t matter who said it or who counted it.
Three decades together isn’t just time — it’s a tapestry of shared dreams, laughter, and love. We’ve been through it…together.
How things change and stay the same is proven over and over. Jennifer Susi was our board president in 2016 and this year, she’s returning to the board after a lengthy hiatus. Thank goodness for that. That year, Karen Bartalini helped to build a gazebo at Living Opportunities for Day of Caring and was literally hanging off a roof when I arrived! And you can imagine my reaction and thoughts of insurance!
It was the 6th year of the Big Idea and Senator Jeff Merkley visited with our students. What a great assembly that was. I will always remember the young man who raised his hand and asked, “What made you think you could be a Senator?”
Senator Merkley had a beautiful answer about how he first thought it when he was that young man’s age. Goals and dreams matter! In 2016, we launched our first mental health awareness ad with the spots with people wearing TV shirts describing who they were in a word. I had the privilege of being Friend to a young woman with ADHD. We’re so much more than a diagnosis or one word. We did so many amazing Day of Caring projects that year including the gazebo, we built tiny homes, painted endlessly at ScienceWorks, spread piles and piles of dirt, bark, and gravel. And we felt good about it.
And we still do. In ten short years, and one health pandemic and one massive wildfire, our budget has doubled and our staff has increased by one. Our volunteer base is what drives us, inspires us, and motivates us to do more. Come join the fun!
Onward,
