Dear Friends,
I have the privilege of being able to work with very special people and that includes our shareholders. I think we share a vision. This is a note that came to me from a committed woman, T. B., and I thought I’d pass it along to you (with her permission)
… I was very inspired on the day I visited your farm. Very is an understatement – and I wanted to take the time to craft a response that did the visit justice. It was actually a defining moment for me personally and also for how I go about forming the Girl Scout Troops in Carmel Valley. I am new to the Carmel Valley community and had been mainly exposed to all the new development. I had been searching for a meeting location and activity to ground the Girl Scout experience in your community – to find a way for girls to develop grit and character and that led me to enquiring about your farm.
There were some things you said to me that were incredibly important and will now influence my work for Girl Scouts in your area. I really appreciated when you helped me focus on listening and absorbing the environment, the levels of biodiversity and life, and treasured the idea that your farm is not a boutique experience. It is life… After meeting you I realized I just how incredibly special Seabreeze is and that it deserves reverence and deep respect for the work there – so much so that I too want to protect it and would not want to set up anything there that would be disrupting or cause any type of distress whatsoever.
The original idea I had does no longer apply I think – as I believe it might be more of a burden than a help to you. I had originally been thinking of two days of service, where girls would come and do raking, weeding or other jobs like this. If this were to occur – I think it would be appropriate for the girls to undergo pre-training so as to seamlessly fit in to your system there. As I am not a Troop Leader myself, I would not be able to guarantee that the girls would get this kind of training. The girls I work with are brand new to Girl Scouts.
I loved how you asked me to come up with the idea for your farm and I think the best way for new girls to step into community service would be to make something for you that would be delivered to you. I liked the idea you had said about bird feeder sheets filled with bird seed to hang – but I knew I also had to come up with a good idea on my own as well. I am still thinking about it!!
I hope this email does not come off as sappy or ungenuine – I am very very inspired by you. The Girl Scout experience was started by a woman just like you – her name is Juliette Gordon Low and she had a vision and determination to make something as cool as Girl Scouts a reality. You have done the same with your farm. My time with you reminded me of the truest values and beliefs in Girl Scouts and I want to thank you. I wish I could convey how important the time you gave to me that day was and how you pivoted a very important aspect of community building in Carmel Valley back to where It really needed to be in just a matter of minutes through simply meeting you. My approach will be much deeper.
Now – I have a special challenge in my heart to do justice to your inspiration. I will email when I have something that is the right fit for such a special place and inspiring person. In the meantime, please know that the way I speak to and interact with new Girl Scout Troops that I form in Carmel Valley is inspired by you.
Let’s keep this farm growing and feeding people. It takes a community.
Happy cooking.
Stephenie
Founder and resident farmer
1988
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