Mel loved woodworking and cutting trees for woodworking projects! So do we, and we have projects where these skills and passions are utilized.
Woodworking: We contract with a carpenter in Guatemala that builds bookshelves for us. Sometimes those shelves are used in the gift of libraries that we donate to schools. We collect Spanish books and then get them to Guatemala. In Guatemala, our carpenter makes the shelves and then delivers them to the school. Then we stock the shelves! Other times, the shelves he builds are donated to medical clinics to hold the inventory of vitamins and medicines that we also collect and donate. Another way our carpenter supports our projects is by building nesting boxes for our chicken coops — a huge benefit in our nutrition and “10 Bucks a Cluck” program.
Tree-cutting: Actually, in a slight twist, it is actually tree “planting” that we support. As part of our food relief efforts, we donate fruit trees (mostly lemon and avocado) to families so that they have the recurring benefit of a fruit harvest every year. But, this year we have also been asked to donate fruit trees to a school to use in an educational garden. Other trees that we donate every year are pine trees, for re-forestation. So many families cut trees for cooking fires that we advocate planting new trees to replace the ones cut.
With memorial donations received here, we will do the following:
- Donate lemon and avocado trees to families to accompany the seed packet and fruit trees fundraiser we do every year. These gifts are given to families to plant near their home and also to schools for use in “educational gardens” on school property.
- Plant pine trees to replenish areas that have been largely cut. Chopping trees is a very common because firewood is needed for cooking and for boiling water to make water safe to drink. Every year we plant trees to help preserve the environment.
- Support our carpenter such that he can build items that we use in our projects: library bookshelves, health clinic storage racks, and chicken coop nesting boxes!
Thank you for considering a gift in memory of Mel Allan Mickey.
Please reach out to me, Jennifer Demar, with any questions about your memorial gift.
The “right” opportunity arose when I learned about a travel opportunity for adoptive families which would include volunteer work and cultural sightseeing. Being members of that team had a profound impact on me, Lillian and Andrew. Not only were we able to make a real connection to our son’s birthplace, but we met incredibly warm and generous people, all of whom we now consider to be a part of our “family.” In addition to the volunteer work I shared with the Team, I also was able to “give back” by performing as my alter ego, “Farfel the Clown” at a barbecue for children of The Backyard School. It will remain one the proudest and happiest memories of my life.