Another One For My Nephew

I'm writing from a beach in North Carolina (here to celebrate my parents' 80th birthdays). My adorable nephew Jake is here too. He's now 4 and is full of spunk and life and we all couldn't be happier. (The photo to the left of Jake and his mom and dad, Susan and Jim Ralston, was taken of a couple of days ago.)

As thanks for their son's recovery and to help other families who are faced with a childhood cancer, Susan and Jim have started their own non-profit called Pediatric Proton Foundation. The foundation's mission is to provide education and assistance to parents of children with cancer who are interested in pursuing proton therapy, the effective but relatively unknown treatment that helped Jake beat his bone cancer. The goal is to raise enough money to give grants to families so that they can afford the treatment.

Please visit their website and learn more about the foundation and proton therapy. If you know someone who has cancer (God forbid), especially a child with cancer (doubly God forbid), please refer them to the website.

Remember How It Works

If you've got to buy things, why not make each dollar go farther and help the Pediatric Proton Foundation and kids like my nephew in the process? If you buy your Amazon products through my website, you can be doing good when so many people are in need (and donations are down for many non-profits.) On my home page, click on "Buy the Book," which will take you to Amazon.

Once you're at Amazon, either buy my book (smile! thanks!) or find another product to buy. Amazon will return a commission on any item purchased to the Seed Campaign. EASY!
I've decided to change beneficiaries every three months instead of each month. So until the end of September, a percentage of your purchases will go to the Pediatric Proton Foundation.

Thanks for Your Support in June

One of the highlights of my appearances at the Blanco Lavender Festival (which was a blast, by the way) was meeting Andree Brunk, the grandmother of Samantha--the darling girl in Miami who was the inspiration for June's Seed Campaign. If you remember, her mother Michelle Coffey-Garcia had started Samantha's Purpose to help children with cerebral palsy.

I'm happy to report that through the Seed Campaign we are able to donate $226 to Samantha's Purpose.

Thank you so much for your help.

My Lavender Life in Mexico--You Can Help

As many of you know, I've been working as a consultant for a lavender farm in Mexico. It's a community co-op, in which all the people in the pueblo of Rancho La Colorada are pitching in to grow lavender as a cash crop. The co-op's goal is to become self-sufficient through lavender so that many of the men who go to the States every year for work can stay home.

The lavender co-op is at a point where they need money to expand their acreage, their irrigation system, their soapmaking capacity and to invest in beehives for lavender honey. To raise these funds, I'm helping plan a big benefit for The Lavender Project on August 6th in San Miguel de Allende.

You can help in two ways. One: go to the website for the lavender project and make an easy, on-line donation, if you are so moved.

Two: I am looking for people with vacation homes who can donate a week's stay to the silent auction at the beneft. If you have a place at the beach or mountains or a pied-a-terre in Manhattan, say, please be so kind as to donate a week's stay. You will get a tax write-off (the donation will actually be made to a non-profit out of Albuquerque, St. Anthony's Alliance, that started the lavender co-op in Mexico) and you will know that instead of sitting empty, your vacation home will be helping people who are working really, really hard to help themselves.

Please let me know if you can make such a contribution (or any other type of donation--your art work, say--for the silent auction or as a door prize).

An Honor From A Wonderful Hotel

I recently got a call from a new JW Marriott resort that will soon open up just north of San Antonio. The hotel wanted to send out copies of my book to give travel writers and potential customers a sense of what makes the Hill Country so special. I was very honored that they felt my book would convey that essence; the package they sent out with my book included Hill Country Lavender products. Very nice.

Two weeks ago, Robb and I had the opportunity to tour the resort and were amazed at the vision and the details. It will have 2 PGA golf courses, a tequila bar, stunning views and, most importantly as a mom, a mini-water park that will qualify as kid heaven I'm sure.

Thanks to the Marriott for really "getting" and supporting my book.

All best wishes and many thanks for continuing to support my book AND the Seed Campaign--Jeannie

Planting Lavender--and Hope--Across the Border

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