Yesterday I wrote a report summarizing the past week. I was happy with it. Then today, at about 6:00 p.m. less so. This is because we have a meeting tomorrow night, and a great deal happened today. So this is the March 9, 2025 postscript:

This morning, I had Pete join me and my Foraker Group mentor Toby Smith about our fundraising efforts. This is because I knew that Pete would be able to fill in the blanks. We Zoomed. Toby is currently in Portugal. In my first meeting with him, he appeared as though he was really enjoying my big picture report. Today, both Pete and I talked with him about fundraising and board governance specifics.

We've come a long way from the Meeting House

In talking with Toby, I came to the realization, and then articulated, that fundraising efforts are all about making new and solidifying old relationships. I was able to provide him with several examples, one being that a very dear friend of mine is going to get us more Alaska contacts, this with the Alaska Breadloaf School, which is connected with Middlebury College in Vermont. And Toby affirmed what I was told in last week’s Foraker Fundraising session, which is that the finance committee must meet regularly and pass on pertinent information to all board members.

Pete and I finished this meeting and separately headed to town. We pulled into U-Haul at the same time, and were joined by Dan, who works for the Anchorage School District. He unloaded five pallets of books from the box truck, and using an electric pallet jack, moved them into a storage unit. I then dashed off in order to fill the bookcases at the Palmer Pool, the DMV, and the Borough Building.

I next stopped at the Pioneer Home, and met with Teddy Keogh, a soft spoken man who does seem to bear a resemblance to Winnie the Pooh. Previously, we had a bookcase in the building entrance, but we removed it because wheelchairs were blocking the way. Teddy suggested that the Pioneer Home give us the books in two bookcases – we then could restock one of them. I agreed. I told him we could call this a library revitalization project.

I also met a volunteer coordinator, and we talked briefly about my teaching a memoir writing class in the near future. There, I thought, as I shook Teddy’s hand, another partnership, solidified.

Back at the hotel, I talked with Susan, who’d spent the morning getting books ready for the upcoming potato planting day at Rebarchuk Farm, and about the Quilts of Valor/BLBP partnership. We agreed that the BLBP has been presented with an excellent fundraising opportunity, but that it’s going to take all BLBP board members to pull this off.

Onward. Pete met via Zoom with a woman, Rebecca, who is going to assist us with Grant Writing, as a volunteer. I briefly joined the conversation and was impressed. She was asking all the right questions.

As if this all wasn’t enough – there was yet another trip to U-Haul in my future. I went over there with Justin who works for Channel Two news, Alaska’s New Source. I had made it a point to keep in touch with him, this after he did a segment on us which centered around federal funding cuts.

The interview took quite a while. I showed him the five pallets of books and talked about how we acquired them, and also about the project in general. He likes what we are doing, and is going to see if he can come to Nome with Pam, Pam, and me.

I returned to the hotel and unpacked some of the U-Haul children’s books. I told Pam we were ready for the week ahead – she still had a few hours to go since she agreed to be present when Alicia’s book group came in to clean books at 8:00 pm.

This evening I answered a lot of emails. Tomorrow I will answer more. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “and so it goes.”

Next 70. 3/11/25: Ouch