I'm stepping aside this month to make space for bigger things.
December 1 was Giving Tuesday, a movement of goodwill that started in 2012 and has ballooned into a massive global celebration of giving and philanthropy. But as tends to happen with all massive success, Giving Tuesday is also now drowning in email and social campaigns, which means those with the biggest platforms and largest marketing budgets have the loudest voices.
But one day is one day. The spirit of paying it forward does not rest. It does not sit out the other 364 days of the year.
Aria Luna and I are embarking on a series of projects forged in the spirit of supporting and uplifting our larger human community, our fellow living beings, and this big beautiful blue planet we live on.
Before you read on, know that we are thinking of you and wishing you and your loved ones and friends a blessed and safe holiday. May the New Year bring all of us closure to this relentless pandemic, and the resilience, health, and renewed connection to family, friends, and ourselves that we so urgently need.
~ Birgitte
When you're blessed with a talent, the most beautiful thing you can do is make a gift of it to others, I always told Aria Luna.
And so...
ECOTOURISM
Since we are not able to travel right now, it's a blessing to be able to pay it forward to the communities that depend on that ability to travel. Not just for them to survive until the time when we can travel again, but to thrive into the far future, and do so sustainably.
We've teamed up with the
Adventure Travel Conservation Fund to support their fundraising campaign for ten ecotourism projects around the world. Five have already been funded, and five more remain.
Aria Luna is donating 7 of her works, as fine art prints, to the campaign, including a Limited Edition print of one of her most gorgeous paintings,
the Quetzal.
Learn more about the ATCF campaign
SOCIAL JUSTICE
We've known about the inhumane treatment of immigrant families seeking a better life here in the U.S., for years now. It reached a particularly appalling peak (or low point) with the separation of parents from their children. You can read more about that
here,
here, and
even here.
In response to this practice, Aria Luna did a painting last year called
Exodus, which depicts two children, a brother and a sister, fleeing the dehumanizing conditions of a detention center. Originally, we were going to auction off the painting and donate the funds to organizations like KIND, Families Belong Together, Al Otro Lado, and Raices Texas, who have a track record of helping reunite and support the immigrant families. But one painting can only raise funds once. So we have created a set of 50 Limited Edition prints to multiply the impact.
We are now working with some of these organizations to bring more attention to this issue and raise the funds they need to do the difficult, time-consuming work of reuniting these families, as well as provide critical mental and psychological health services. Recently, Telemundo did a feature on
Aria Luna and her work in this area.
There are only 50 copies of the Exodus Limited Edition print. Unlike regular fine art prints, Limited Editions can and do increase in value over time, which means each print purchased helps drive more funds to these organizations.
Get yours today... or help us spread the word and forward this newsletter to your friends, family, colleagues, networks, or groups you belong to.
