A March Hare and Thin Mints

Featured AfA Staff Members

Article written by Becca Hannigan

If you haven’t been able to spend time with and get to know either Celeste Seiler or Jessica Jarrard, I’m here to recommend doing so. They were kind enough to take some time out of their workday in the AfA office to chat and tell me about themselves (and each other at some points in the discussion) and their new positions within the organization. Here’s a brief rundown of some things I learned about their work at AfA and lives otherwise:

Celeste Seiler (Michele Skye on social media): Agency Administrator
From: San Antonio, Texas
Celeste is married to a CMT and RN and is the mother of two girls, age three and five.
Journey at AfA: Celeste began by volunteering, then worked as an intern last January. She moved into a position as Agency Administrator/Program Manager in April 2018.
Excited about: “A lot of new things that we (AfA) are establishing: new relationships, coming up with plans to generate more funds, and getting out in the community even more.”
Character from Alice in Wonderland she’s most like: “White Rabbit. I always have a sense of urgency about me. I can’t be late.”
Takes her tea: “Plain.”
Loves (other than AfA): “To cook. It’s my thing that makes the stress melt away. I love southern comfort food. Mexican food is my favorite. I make an awesome enchilada casserole.” (check out her [old] blog, featuring delicious vegan recipes: compassionatetummies.blog
Olive oil or butter? “I’ve been a vegan for seven years this month. So probably olive oil.”
Other info she wants to share about AfA: “We became members of the Art District on Santa Fe last year, which means we have the opportunity to be part of ‘The Art of Brunch.’ It will be once a month, on the last Sunday of March, April, and May, from 11-3pm each day. It’s basically like an open house for art, poetry and music.
“I signed up to do the Colfax Marathon. We need more people to sign up!” [just put Art from Ashes in as your charity when registering: www.runcolfax.org/runner-info/run-for-a-nonprofit ]
“AfA’s 2019 calendars have been printed! We’ve been asking for a $50, but since we have about a dozen left and it’s well into the year, we’re asking for $20. It’s full of beautiful youth artwork and poetry!” [donate here and request the calendar in your note: bit.ly/donateafa]
Other badges she wears (We’re guessing she needs a sash for all these badges): President of the PTA and Girl Scout Cookie Sales Manager “I’m way too involved in everything. I keep busy.”
Favorite Girl Scout cookie: “Thin Mints are the only vegan ones. Before I was vegan, I really liked the Trefoils.”

Jessica Jarrard: Director of Operations
From: North Carolina, in a small town near Winston, Salem
Journey at AfA: Jessica started as a volunteer in 2014, working in communications and grant writing. She was on the Board of Directors for several years and is now the Director of Operations. As D of O, she oversees volunteers, FUNdevelopment, HR, and community collaborations, AKA making sure that everyone knows about us.
Excited about: “We’re just really excited to look at new ways to develop funds and new opportunities for serving more young people, along with increasing volunteer engagement—because it’s all so connected. You get more people involved, then new things start to happen, which means you have more to communicate and thus need more people to help communicate, and on and on.”
“Denver’s changing. There are many new organizations out there, and a lot going on, which means we have more opportunities for collaborating. AfA also recently won the Denver Mayor’s Award, which is helping us boost our potential partnerships and collaborations.”
Character from Alice in Wonderland she’s most like: (after much discussion/contemplation) “I guess you could say I’m the March Hare, because it’s always tea time. I do love tea parties…but I’m not crazy! Much.”
On the subject of tea: “I love all tea.”
Loves (other than AfA and tea): “I like to be outside. To hike. I’ve done 35 of the Colorado 14ers. The Wetterhorn is my favorite.”
Favorite local trail: “The Chicago Lakes trail.”
Pets: Jessica is the mother of “an adorable husky mix, Bernie.”
Favorite Girl Scout cookie: “Thin mints in the freezer. Tagalongs, too.”

To need or not to need?

(download or view as a pdf: here)

I haven’t used the word “need” in a direct request in 15 years, since the inception of Art from Ashes. At that time, I was convinced that because our process and our results were so amazing and innovative (which they are), as we shared our work with people, we would soon have enough funds to spread our programs of connection and power through creative expression all over the world within a few years!! (In my defense, it wasn’t so much naiveté as a sincere combination of trust and faith…which, now that I think of it, could be considered naiveté. ????????‍♀️)

Turns out, although our unique creative process sets us apart, like all the other nonprofits doing awesome work, we have indeed had to—and continue to—spend countless hours of agency time and tons of resources writing grants and grant reports, seeking donations, doing statistical analysis, managing a database, communicating in a way that inspires and engages people, holding events, recruiting and nurturing volunteers—not to mention paying the bills and of course paying the lovely and hardworking people who must pay their bills.

Over the past 15 months, Art from Ashes also had to face the challenge of my cancer diagnosis. Although I have worked the entire time I’ve been fighting cancer, staying as financially stable as in previous years has been demanding, and hope has sometimes seemed elusive. Yet hope and empowerment are exactly what AfA provides. They are as vital to existence as more tangible things like food and clothing—just ask anyone who is fighting for their life. Donating to AfA provides hope to a population that may otherwise not be served. So, yes. We need you. The youth need you. 

What we do STILL works like magic. What we do is still changing the world for thousands of youth, as well as improving the landscape of our communities. And what we do is still unique and special—just like the young people we serve (544 to date in 2018, plus another 100+ who signed in but didn’t fill out intake forms).

Our amazing results have won us numerous awards, and we hope you’ll join us in our continued success, so we can accomplish even more. Art from Ashes needs $20,000 in financial support by year’s end to help us increase the number of youth served in 2019 to 750 and to add transformational dance and movement to our program offerings!

There are at least five ways you can support AfA during this Season of Light and time of generosity and thanksgiving. We hope you will consider one or more:

1. #GivingTuesday! This Tuesday, November 27, Facebook has teamed up with Paypal to MATCH ALL DONATIONS through Facebook fundraisers. You can either start a fundraiser (instructions here) and select Art from Ashes (look for our logo) or give to an existing one (link to ours!). Please do one or maybe even both!
2. PayPal Gives Back! If you want to donate directly through PayPal with your account, they’ll be increasing all holiday giving by 1% through PayPal’s donate page and the PayPal app from November 27 through December 31. That’s sweet! No fees, either! Any size donation this holiday will be worth that little bit extra.
3. Colorado Gives Day! Every year, Community First Foundation and FirstBank present a statewide movement that celebrates and increases philanthropy in Colorado. There is a $1 million incentive fund and we get a little piece of it depending on how much is donated during the 24 hours starting at 12:01am on December 4th. HOWEVER, you can plan ahead and give now, allocating the donation to CO Gives Day! We hope you will include us when you give this year.
4. Celebration of Light! Each year on Colorado Gives Day, we invite all of our past, present and future partners, volunteers, guest artists and poets, youth participants, donors and grantors to a holiday party that celebrates this season of light. Our events team has been hard at work planning this wonderful event. We would love to see you and show you what we’re up to in our beautiful space at 10th and Navajo.
5. Volunteer! Most of our volunteers also work full-time jobs, and while we ask only 6 hours a month, that can be difficult for many. If you have six hours a month to give, we would love board members, interns and people skilled in communications, events planning, grant writing, FunDevelopment, database management, office work, and anything else essential to running a business. We also provide training for facilitation if you’d like to work directly with our young people. Apply here!

Well, there, I did it. To need or not to need? The answer is we need you now more than ever. And because giving is a blessing, we hope you will consider blessing yourself and the youth we serve before the end of the year.

With trust and faith (still),  

Catherine

PS. Pre-order our 2019 Art from Ashes youth art/poetry calendar! Just be sure to request the calendar when you make a $50 donation.

Also, check out our holiday letter and read about my cancer treatment update.