1/1/26 – It’s been a little over a month since I did an entry. I got frustrated with the whole 501 thing, then I got busy. Then it got cold and rainy. Then the days got shorter and darker. I needed to concentrate on self-care, leading up to solstice. Then it was holidays, and the world shuts down for two weeks.
So, here we are now, 1st of the year. It’s still cold and rainy, but the days are getting longer, holidays are over, and it’s time to get this ball rolling! This is going to be a boring little journal entry, but I think I need to sum up how much I’ve actually managed to do in THREE MONTHS!!!
- Decided to start a non-profit. Just, out of the blue, what the heck, sounds plausible, let’s do this.
- Researched what’s involved. Talked to a lawyer. Talked to friends. Talked to my mother.
- Recruited a Board of Directors. Filed the paperwork.
- Did more and more and more and more and more paperwork. Had a Board meeting. Did more paperwork. Got a bank account. Business credit card. More paperwork.
- Learned WordPress and made this website.
- Learned Krita graphics design program and made business cards and bookmarks
- Cleaned out two over-stuffed garages, that haven’t been cleaned out in YEARS, and re-organized 13 years of accumulated storage, to make room for books
- Started accepting book donations. Received 4 donations from private individuals; 1 donation from an Amazon reseller, and did 1 estate charity clean-out.
- Established a partner-relationship with Robin from West County Reads; gave her some of the cleaned-out storage area space for her working donation collection
- Set up a public browsing area in my storage space
- Re-distributed 10 boxes of books to various Friends of the Library groups
- Re-distributed 6 boxes of books to Prisoner’s Literacy Project
- Re-distributed 4 boxes of books to Little Free Libraries
- Took what felt like 12,923 boxes of books to Moe’s Books in Berkeley for trade-in, and generated just under $1200 in store credit (!)
- Distributed that credit to four local high schools: El Cerrito, De Anza, Kennedy, and Richmond. (To be pedantic, Richmond will get its distribution after January 6th.)
- Re-distributed two boxes of books to El Cerrito High School, and spent time learning from the Librarian
- Met with the Librarian from Kennedy High School in Richmond, to find out what will best help them. (He’ll get a box or two of books after the 6th.)
- Collapsed in exhaustion about 729 times, and took about 68 ibuprofen for my arthritic fingers
- Posted for volunteers to help keep the momentum going, and start up even more projects in the new year!
Leave a Reply