Annual Giving Campaign 2012

Tending the Plantings

$216,000 Goal

Dear Supporting Friend,

This year we are Tending the Plants. With a full and dedicated staff, a program season open with possibilities and a marketing effort presenting an inspiring message, the Center is ready to welcome you home. I sit in amazement, as I look back over the past several years and see how the Blue Deer Center has grown and become part of so many lives. The gratitude that I feel for being called here to the Center to be part of this work has deepened.

I see how the Center has brought these ancestral ways to so many people, allowing people a connection to their basic self. You are part of this work, this path, and I feel honored to be on it with you. As a supporter of the Blue Deer Center, you are aware of the needs of the Center from fixing up the Green House for staff, addressing the drainage issues in the Guest and Main Houses, the River bank stabilization, the future of the barn and rehabilitating the Gazebo as a year round healing space.

These are all wonderful and exciting projects that will enable us to be nourished for the years to come, but as you know, we still need funds to operate on a day-to-day basis. This year we are projecting a need of approximately a quarter of a million dollars. These funds go towards making the Center a vital place through helping to build the scholarship program, caring for our buildings and land, and nourishing our programs.

We are taking a step towards establishing home again by Tending the Plants. The theme for our Annual Campaign was brought forth after we planted the seeds last year and prepared the ground the year before. Our intention is to tend the plantings on this land in anticipation of people returning to this land to carry on the ancestral ways. The Center staff and volunteers are reaching out to the people of the region and the world to bring forth their dreams for the Center.

Tending the Plants is an activity in which we join together for a common future, in search of a shared understanding of where we are going and how. Our people have a need for sustenance that we can only receive from the land. The Center is on the verge of making a very large step into the world; so we are tending ourselves, the land, facilities, and you – our donors, supporters, volunteers, program participants and Elders – to be part of this undertaking.

We will be talking with you this year, reaching out to know you better. Our goal is to have you better understand the BDC and our role in the story that includes the Sacred Fire Community and the Sacred Fire Foundation. We are a group of enthusiastic and committed people leading the way to make this possible.

I invite you to set your generous heart towards the center in 2012 and join this important group of people as we bring forth and support the ancestral traditions. We all appreciate your generous support in whatever form that it may take. Whatever form your generosity manifests, you are a honored member of the Blue Deer community. Your stance, your good heart, and your actions are a present to the world. I look forward to being with you at the Blue Deer Center in the coming year.

With Thanks,

Peter Brown

Fundraising Director

There are many ways to give your 100% Tax Deductible Contribution and help us meet this goal:

Gifts of Cash

Pledges and Grants

  • Many families and donors give large grants using foundations.
  • You can pledge your support now and give your donation monthly or quarterly or in whatever installments work for you.

Gifts of Appreciated Securities

Consider making a gift in stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

Planned Giving

As you prepare your will, please consider the Blue Deer Center. We can assist you in this matter. Please call to talk or request literature to be sent to you.

In-kind Donations

Maybe you have a passenger van, a tractor, art, jewelry, or a particular skill set that you would like to donate to the Center.

Special Events

Give a dinner or party to raise funds for our Annual Campaign. To schedule an event, please contact specialevents [at] bluedeer [dot] org.

As always, we are grateful for your generous gifts to the Blue Deer Center,
Linda Felch, Peter Brown, Melissa Clare and Buffy Aakaash Directors;
Amanda Kerner, Safia Johnson and Keiko Cronin Co-Executive Officers;
Patrick Hannaway, Eliot Cowan and Dan Sprinkles Board of Directors

Click here to download our Gift Donation Form or to contribute online.

Please contact Peter Brown, Fundraising Director if you have any questions at
peterbrown [at] bluedeer [dot] orgor 845-586-3225 x 5.