Starting non-profit

It is amazing to me the outpouring of love that is given by EVERYONE who knows you when you have a first child. I have never written so many thank you notes in my life as when our Sam was born. The warmth is such a rewarding experience beyond her arrival and really emphasizes that it takes a village and our village is well established.

To my surprise one of the gifts, or the process in deciding what gift to suggest to someone, provided the desire for me to take on a challenge (as if a new baby isn't enough). My best friend Sharon was in town and asked what gift her father could give Sam. In the past he gave me "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein with a hand written note inside explaining that a tree is planted in Dallas in my honor. Being such a wonderful gift A and I decided that we would love for Sam to have a tree. She now has a beautiful baby tree on his ranch in Texas. As I thought about this present though it was kind of sad to me that she has to go all the way to Texas to play under her tree. Thus the challenge to myself to start my own Tree Foundation here in Colorado.

Having never done anything other than volunteer for a non-profit I am a little intimidated by the process and structure required for such an endeavor. I have begun making great contacts in the area and am already having tons of success with people interested in participating and helping me with the tree side of the project. Now I'm struggling through the daunting chore of finding the best method to begin the non-profit piece. For anyone who reads this, any information on non-profits is welcome. My bestest friend Sharon is already such a great help and will be my guide through this fun time.

The best part is I hope to instill in my daughter the awesome things that we can do if we put our mind to it, most importantly what it will do for others and the beautiful places she will grow up in because of such organizations.

I need some help with a potential name.....anyone.....
Hopefully this inspires and motivates the other wonderful ideas in Works-for-Me-Weds.

This was one of the incredible gifts from Sam's shower. All the people who attended painted these letters to form her name. Thank you to my sister Amie for the idea and putting it together.