Hi, my name is Becca, and I appreciate you taking the time to click on my fundraiser. Every day, I am trying to answer the question posed by my favorite poet Mary Oliver in the last line of her poem "The Summer Day" - "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" A few years ago, I made a pivot in my career - something I've done more than a few times in the 20 years since graduating college - and started substitute teaching full time in the same school district from which I graduated. When I left the small town of New Holstein, WI in 1999 to embark on my journey into adult life, I never thought it would be anything but the place where I grew up and still visited on holidays. Little did I know that 15 years after graduating college and living in Chicago and Nashville I'd end up right back from whence I came, and still here 10 years later. Sometimes I'm tempted to think I should still live in a bigger city because I was always drawn to the hustle bustle and love being around a lot of people from all walks of life. But when I think about the trajectory of my life, I know that I am where I am for a purpose, and am driven to find that purpose and make a life out of it.
While I was subbing, I realized that a lot of kids in the community where I grew up are not having the kind of childhood experiences that I had. I was very fortunate from the moment I came into existence, and while my parents were small business owners who worked very hard for what we had, I never wanted for anything. I look back now and realize we didn't have an abundance of anything, but we did have a warm and cozy home, delicious home cooked meals, and at the start of each school year (and throughout) I always had weather-appropriate clothes that fit and plenty of school supplies. In a nutshell, I had everything I needed to succeed.
Even though I have always prided myself on being an empathetic person, I realized that there are a lot more kids who are struggling and not having their basic needs being met than I ever realized. Even in my small hometown, the income gap is alive and growing every day, and the cycle of poverty will continue to roll on unless we actively work to be cycle breakers. I think it's easy for some of us to go about our daily lives on auto-pilot, and unless we are given the opportunity to interact with people who are having a very different life experience than ourselves, to kind of let the days slip by in the comfort of our familiar bubble. We have our celebrations and our challenges, our heartbreaks and our personal triumphs, of course. But in general, we are surrounded by our peers who are more or less in our income bracket, having common life experiences and meeting similar milestones.
Taking a step back from the life that I've cultivated alongside my husband for the past 14 years, I know that I continue to be very fortunate. As I pondered on what it would take to give all our community's kids a sense of belonging and the indescribable feeling of security that comes along with it, an idea was taking shape in my heart. It's taken a few years to get to the point where I was ready to begin the journey in earnest, and I'm happy to report that I am very close to being able to turn the open sign on and start operating. Proceeds made from the sale of donated clothing will be used to provide snacks, school supplies, clothes, cold weather gear (and more) to any and all kids in our community who need them.
I’ve found the perfect space for my shop and have started moving in and getting everything ready. I have signs to purchase, rent to pay, and a ventless dryer is being delivered next week, a point of sale system needs to be acquired, along with much, much more. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up before I open, but I know I’ll figure it all out as I go.
It's been a lot to take on for sure, but the only kind of overwhelmed I feel at the moment is overwhelming gratitude - I'm grateful that Mary Oliver existed and shared her gift of poetry with the world - and in turn, challenged all of us to be the most actualized versions of ourselves; grateful for my family and their unwavering belief in me and support of my dreams; and gratitude for the community of friends I have built over the years who have cheered me on every step of the way. None of us actually do anything completely on our own - there is always a web of thousands of invisible strings connecting us to each other. Any donation you are able to make will be so very appreciated, and will be put to use to embark on what I know to be my greater purpose in my wild and precious life.
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