September 23, 2019 was the day that our incorporation paperwork came in the mail making us an official Nonprofit! So, 5 years later, I share some insights on running The Right Relief Inc. and how it's changed my life.
The summer of 2019 involved...baking. A LOT of baking. My daughter Violet's birthday is at the end of summer and for her 2nd birthday cake we decided to go with a strawberry flavor/theme. I was on a mission to find a recipe that had REAL strawberries and not just powder, freeze dried or extract. It was surprisingly hard to find and I baked several cakes to taste test. With only my husband Kyle and I plus our almost 2-year-old we couldn't eat all that cake. SO....I decided to "donate" the cakes to the most logical place...the fire and police station of course. They were happy to received albeit a little confused.
That summer, I also taught summer school for a month at a school district I had left the year prior so I could spend more time with Violet. It wasn't quite the right fit. I had "taught" Violet the whole year at home by reading zillions of books to her and doing toddler projects (see the Curious Miss V blog for a throwback!) but I wasn't a classroom teacher anymore. That had been my identity for almost 10 years and it's all I ever wanted to "be" from a very young age. Turns out, my body knew this before I did...I got shingles the first week of summer school. I had to find a substitute which is almost impossible in the summer and relied on my father-in-law to help take care of Violet while Kyle was at work. I went to the doctor twice because I was convinced there was something she could do to make me feel better. Not the case. Shingles is terrible. Painful and just UGH!
I recovered after about 2 weeks, continued baking and started to ask the question...what's next? What can I do while home with Violet that possibly involves baking or cooking? Who needs my treats?! I thought a lot about my parents, the baker/comfort food chef duo. I learned more about Ronald McDonald House and their meal program for Caregivers who stay there. I filled out a volunteer application to be a "kitchen keeper" there twice a month. Google and I were on a first name basis as I started to think about the possibility of creating a nonprofit. I did some journaling/writing. Had lunch with a friend who served on the board of a small local nonprofit. Kyle and I had pages of doodles/brainstorms when thinking of what the NPO would be called. Finally, on Sept. 11 I took a big step in creating the articles of incorporation, forming our board of directors and completing drafts of government paperwork that I took to Marquette Law School. I had a meeting with a pro-bono legal counsel group who checked things over and gave me the "all clear" to make my edits and hit the post office.
We worked on a "Founder Fifty" T-shirt and asked friends and family to help us get started and the outpouring of support was more than I'd ever imagined! People I had never met donated. I was introduced to Kathy's House and scheduled our first group meal. Our Facebook page/website were launched. I did my first Facebook Live video at Target while I was grocery shopping...riveting content! ;)
The rest, as they say, is history (if five years can be called history). It feels much longer! I had my second baby Mr. Robbie, moved twice and Kyle changed careers. Never a dull moment. Violet and especially Robbie don't really know my "job" as anything besides helping/cooking for Caregivers. I've barely scratched the surface of all the things to know about social media/marketing, fundraising, website design, event planning, accounting...I could go on. What I DO know, is that The Right Relief will be my legacy. I don't use that word lightly.
I've been doing a lot of thinking on this and what it means for the future of @The Right Relief Inc. Since it is football season, I have the perfect connection (but please don't think I'm comparing myself as an equal to the best football coach of all time!). The great Vince Lombardi left his legacy on the Green Bay Packers. The Super Bowl trophy is named after him which is the obvious signal that, "Hey, this coach is pretty important and good at what he does." However, there was a lot more to his life's work, including his mindset of integration and treating all players equally regardless of their race. Lombardi even said that he "viewed his athletes as neither black nor white, but Packer green." He created the Lombardi sweep, motivated & inspired players to be at their best always and of course won 5 championships among many other awards/recognitions. The name Lombardi is known far and wide because of the impact he had on the NFL and his players; it was his Legacy.
You've probably guessed that I'm not planning on going back to teaching, but instead focusing my time on Caring for Caregivers. It is something I feel SO passionate about. My personality is to nurture which I did for my 20+ kindergarteners and 1st graders every year. It's what I do with my own kids and family. While this is not unlike the millions of other teachers and parents out there, I do know that it's what I was meant to do, not just "full time" but in my life. My whole life!
SO...CHEERS to 5 YEARS and The Right Relief Inc.'s bright future of providing Doses of Relief to 54,750 Caregivers and BEYOND!
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