Pay it Forward – Tahoe Style

This is not an
easy time. We all know that. But for all the uncertainty and chaos I’m choosing
to see this year as an opportunity for the community to come together more
cohesively. We need each other more than ever. We need to support each other in
our businesses, our life, our relationships, our spirit. Through our ups and downs.

And what a ray of
hope it is when I see, despite the trailing financials, people starting up
awesome projects to benefit our community.

Here’s just one,
and I focus on it because it’s hugely time sensitive.

Meet Gia States,
visionary and philanthropist. I met her at an ewomen networking program in
Truckee and was immediately drawn to her. Not just because of the beauty of her
calendars (although they speak for themselves – see www.soulbeautiful.org ) and not just because of the worthy cause (funding a
wilderness retreat for foster kids in the Truckee area) but because of her
passion and spirit. She had the guts to think big, enroll a whole team of
volunteers including professional photographers – put her own money down….
and trust. Bigtime.

Now she needs our
help.

I call it the
motion light phenomenon. All is dark, you can’t see very far, aren’t quite sure
where to tread, but all you need to do is step just one step. Suddenly on
comes the light, and voila, the way becomes clear. If you don’t step you don’t
get to see.

Gia stepped.
Actually she leapt, and now, two months down the track, and coming into
Valentine month, it’s reaching calendar sale deadline. And she has a bunch
still to go to reach her goal.

I told her I’d
help. One of my passions is networking. I’m incurable. I love linking people
that I feel need to know each other. I think I even do it in my sleep (so my
husband tells me!) I love finding worthy causes and helping shed light onto
them. I love meeting the quality people that I do each day, who are making the
world a better place, one smile, one hug, one project at a time.

So I’ve been sharing
her website with my database. I have a lot of friends, male and female, that
love inspiring images and quotes (look no further for the perfect valentine’s
gift !) and who like to buy meaningful gifts for their friends. Gia
bravely committed to creating 1500 calendars and whilst she’s done fabulously
in getting them out, she doesn’t want any left in her garage after February…
so she needs our help in moving the last few hundred.

Gia is the founder and
director of Re:Mix, a non-profit that empowers foster youth to express
their voice, take risks, and encourage them to dream in a safe and supportive
environment in the magical wilderness of the Truckee/Tahoe area. Did you know
that there are 1760 foster kids in the Sacramento, Nevada and Placer counties
who will, at 18, age out of the systems without a family and without support?
Did you know that 51% of foster youth are unemployed, 25% are homeless, and 40%
have been incarcerated. It doesn’t need to be like this. These children need
support. What Re:mix does is create wilderness expeditions, creative
exploration activities and healthy lifestyle lessons to help give these kids a
fighting chance and the support of a loving community.

It doesn’t take
much to spread the word. I’ve been taking calendars to local shops and many of
them are thrilled to participate in this great project. I also have friends
that are contacting their friends. Here’s what one of them said: