Giving and Sharing

DeDe and me at the Oklahoma Commons, Habitat For Humanity Project. Hopefully, in February or March he will move his family into a new home that they will have purchased after also have contributed to over 500 hours of labor on. Construction will continue throughout the winter months and volunteers are always needed (see my link below).

Dark skies and cool sprinkles greeted us Sunday morning at 6am as we started hauling our “inventory” out onto the driveway. We raised our favorite Jolly Roger pirate flag, hung the posters and balloons letting Garage Salers know they had arrived at “Garage Sale Nirvana!” I’d used social media streams to alert everyone that my “Artist’s Garage Sale” would be open for business by 8am sharp, rain or shine. By 10am the sun was shining and all of the steel sculptures and the best of the artist supplies had homes! WHEW! I STILL hauled a TRUCK LOAD of leftovers to the thrift store Monday morning but the dirty deed of the big cleanout and purge was done and we had a pocket full of cash for pizza and beer!

Yesterday, I was invited to help our friends at Fire Island Bakery work on a Habitat for Humanity project for one of their long-time employees, DeDe. The project is called the Oklahoma (the name of the street where the project is) Commons located in a picturesque site on the East side of town. As the Chugach mountains received their first dusting of snow, and the Birch trees were glowing, our Fire Island Bakery work crew helped log man-hours that would count toward DeDe’s 500 hours he would need to put towards his home before he would be able to purchase the home from Habitat for Humanity. Not only did I learn some valuable construction skills, I learned that Habitat for Humanity does not GIVE AWAY the homes to the poor and that Jimmy Carter did not start the organization. It was a wonderful day of not only sharing, but learning about our community and even more about the “Myths (and facts) about Habitat for Humanity.” If you'd like to volunteer in Anchorage here is the link.

Will’s girlfriend, Kimberly is off to Washington D.C. for the Susan Komen 3-Day for the Cure Walk this week! The Susan G. Komen
 3-Day for the Cure® is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days.
Net proceeds from the 3-Day for the Cure are invested in breast cancer 
research and community programs. She wanted me to make her some flags to hang on the outside of their pink dome tents that the participants sleep in. I used Alaska Flags featuring the Big Dipper and the North Star with yellow flags that can be signed by other participants during the event as a keepsake for Kim. You GO GIRL!

From Alaska with Love!