Thank you letter

September 2009
Greeting,
I hope this finds all of you up North enjoying the coming winter season. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who participated in the Beads for Seeds fundraiser I had in August. Thanks to everyone's purchases and support I was able to raise almost $1,000.00. The seeds have been purchased and will be going to the Ukraine in November. Ira Sulim-Kolier, who works for Catalysts for Kids in the Ukraine will distribute the seeds in the spring.
I purchased a number of varieties of carrots, cucumbers, beans, kohlrabi, peas, sweet peppers, radish, tomatoes, and watermelons. Most of the seeds were purchased from Seed Savers Exchange or Fishers Seeds in Belgrade Montana. All seeds all open-pollinated.
I have been working with my sister Lynnise Stoltzfus and Catalysts for Kids to draft a letter to orphanage directors and school administrators explaining what my goals are with the Beads for Seeds program. It has been an interesting experience learning to present my ideas and respect the cultural differences and hope my intentions do not get lost in translation! My hope is that growing a vegetable garden will be a fun and educational project for the children, as well as providing them with nutritious foods.
My goals for Beads for Seeds are evolving as ideas and possible problems are presented from people in the Ukraine who are interested in gardens for children (for example, there maybe be a space for a garden, but the village cows wander through, so a fence would be needed.) It is a fun process and at this time I am not sure what directions this project will take. I will keep you posted.
For now my husband and I have loaded our "home", the sailing vessel KRISTIANA, with food, water and fuel and we are heading out to do some sailing and fishing in Belize.
Thanks again to everyone for your support,
Rayene Lehmann
Beads for Seeds
A Global Gardening Project