July recap

I don't want to start into August without a shout out to July. So much happened for me internally that would not have happened without external support and validation. Thank you to all who gave (my birthday fundraiser was more than I could have asked for..literally). Thank you to all who showed up - liking my many postings on social media (ya, it counts..don't let the humility fool you), asking what was going on (I got practiced at talking about my vision..that is crucial) and to all the peeps showing up at the CARE Fair - phew! I could have been alone all day and then what?

We raised the money and the artsty goodness to get to work in August. The goal is to have 30 JAM Bags to take to the charity of choice. September will be House of Hope and we will start right into October with JAM Bags for The Sharing Place.

I don't want to get ahead of myself here so let me just say that generating goodness will be my job moving forward and if that means teaching people how to be makers and givers, that's what I'm going to do. I tend to get complicated when asked what the CARE Alliance is about. Really it boils down to Creative Action and Radical Expression (CARE- duh!) for

**the Self CARE we all need and deserve (CARE Jams coming right up!),

**for Community CARE that people in struggle need and deserve as fellow humans (CARE Fairs and CARE Givers coming right up)

** for CARE of mama earth that we can all take part in as we tread lightly, use resources already available and make sustainable art and craft - i.e. useful for mind, body and spirit.

I'll just add a photo of the JAM Bags we've made so far and leave you with a whole bunch of gratitude before I head into telling you about August.

One of my favorite writers, Anne Lammott writes this - "I do not know the mystery of grace. I only know it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us"

peace, love and light - Tori