Santa and Soulumination

I am up way too early yet again, lots to do to be ready for the holiday weekend and so much going on with Soul that it makes me restless.  I am delighted to share the Santa photos so graciously taken by Sandra of our friend, Kenneth.  He has never had a Christmas where he is well enough for photos so its a real treat to see him so sweetly with the jolly old elf.  I got a nice greeting from Santa myself yesterday when grabbing a bite to eat with Doug in the main lobby of Virginia Mason after seeing my dad through his latest round of doctor visits.  After seeing Santa a phone call came on my cell for Doug from his great friend Sarah who is his Soul bowling buddy.  Sarah and Doug have a special relationship and its so fun to hear Doug chatting away with Sarah as when I first met her it was very doubtful that fun teenage years were in store for her. 

Its nearing the end of our 7th year of being a 501c3 non-profit and we are experiencing the highest number of requests ever.  Besides Sandra’s Santa Shoot, Bryan, Natalia, Clane, Dawn, Karen and Kelly have had shoots plus Clane is returning to Seattle Children’s today and Heather is shooting tomorrow and its possible that Bryce worked at Overlake last night and if not I will be going this morning.  The photos have been absolutely outstanding and we are thankful for each photographer who has given so much this past year.  We are obviously getting the word out to get referrals.

To finance all of this we are most grateful to our supporters. I want to again thank the amazing Diane Shea for spearheading the efforts that raised over $30K net for Soul at the Artist Sale.  Also huge thanks to Brian and Laurie Flynn for selection Soul as the beneficiary of their beautiful holiday party.  We have also received some wonderful donations from friends, Soul families, my clients and people that we don’t even know.  My little Fall for Soul fundraiser thru my business will net us over $4K and Angie and Lew are busy planning a wonderful event in memory of Charlotte for this coming February.  With the increase in requests we obviously need more support than ever.  Its all a lot to keep moving forward and Megan has been working so hard to get ready for a little break.  Megan is just a gift to Soul and to the families that she helps us serve. 

Megan and Lew are looking to really update our volunteer information and move forward to have help in the office regularly that is trained to make the lovely gifts for our families.  It takes precise and committed volunteers to make this all happen, so if you feel you have time, energy and talent we would love to hear from you.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season and I am so excited that McKenzie will be arriving this evening and that we have had the great pleasure of a few days with Mike, Lew and Nando.  Early thanks to one of the original Soul moms, my sister in law Sally not only for all she did for the Sale but for hosting the Johnson family for Christmas dinner.  In love, peace and gratitude, Lynette