This summer I was fortunate to have many wonderful events on the tour for my new book, The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming. But my favorite event was held in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I now live. I turned the book signing into a benefit, with one-third of the price of each book sold going to a lavender co-op in a small pueblo outside of San Miguel. The co-op is trying to become self-sufficient growing lavender as a cash crop, making soaps, sachets and lavender wands in the tourist town of San Miguel. The idea is that if the co-op becomes a success--it's well on its way, with 2 acres of gorgeous purple rows--the many men who leave the pueblo every year for work in the States can stay home instead.
I have volunteered as an adviser to the co-op for 2 years and it's wonderful to be able to use my lavender experience to help such a worthwhile cause. The signing/benefit was the most rewarding event because it was about more than just me (I know that may sound strange--or even suspect--coming from a memoirist, but it's true).
In that spirit, I've been looking for another way to give back, and I've found something amazingly simple and really effective. I'm calling it The Seed Campaign. Here's how it works:
When you buy my book, or ANY Amazon product, by first going to my website, www.jeannieralston.com, Amazon will give 4 to 8 percent of sales back to The Seed Campaign (percentages increase with volume). I will donate each month's total to a worthy organization, a different cause each month. My goal is to raise $60,000 this coming year. It’s important that you go to Amazon through my website, so that Amazon can credit the Seed Campaign.
I started this campaign because my book is about making the most of the twist and turns life takes, and when I realized that the Amazon account was collecting money, I saw it was a great opportunity to reinforce the message of the book—by actually helping other people make the most of their lives.
For this first month--September--I will be donating all funds in The Seed Campaign to St. Anthony's Alliance, a U.S.-based non-profit that started and has continued to support the lavender co-op that I gave the benefit for this summer. This project has it all for me: lavender, Mexico, women, entrepreneurship, family. Money from my book sales will go to a project that truly offers hope and the promise of self-sufficiency through the same flower that did so much for me!
In October, funds will be going to the John Dau Sudan Foundation. John Dau is a Lost Boy of Sudan and the subject of the film, God Grew Tired of Us. I will speak at a benefit for the foundation in New York in late October.
I hope you'll help me out. Together we can grow hope and plant seeds of change for the future. Thank you--Jeannie
