Paradise Kombucha stand

Lorna's trip to the orphanage has had a huge impact on her. She wants to know why so many children still need homes, why their parents had to give them up, why we couldn't bring them all home... While there are logical, rational answers to all these questions, I still, on some level, wonder the same things. Will talks about how excited Lucy's classmates were to have visitors and how sad the kids were when they left. I think Lorna will remember that day forever.

As we lay in bed talking about it one evening, we decided to do what we could. Hence the kombucha, lemonade, zucchini muffin stand. I feel it's so important to honor kids' natural compassion and to help them know they're not powerless.

We decided to give the money to Half the Sky Foundation, a US non-profit that provides and trains extra staffing in select Chinese orphanages. Lucy was a direct beneficiary of their programs. She had a baby book with weekly entries, photos and hand prints from the time she was brought to the orphanage. She also had daily one on one time by a nanny whose salary was paid by Half The Sky. Their mission is to "ensure that each Chinese orphan has a caring adult in their life."

With Kelsey's help, we've been home brewing our own kombucha. What is kombucha? It's a traditional Japanese health drink made from fermented mushrooms. Wow that sounds crazy, but it's all the rage now in Boulder and elsewhere - a huge seller in most Whole Foods. So we got a starter mushroom from a local company that Will knows and Kelsey had the expertise. Voila!

It was very sweet to watch Will give Lorna some business 101 tips - it was their project and they had lists and schemes and plots. I wanted / needed to unload some zucchinis so I volunteered the gluten-free, vegan zucchini muffins to go along with the Boulder cliche. We did also have the traditional lemonade.

We made $193 to give to Half the Sky and all had a wonderful time. Elizabeth helped with the muffins, Kathy helped with signage and our neighbor, Andy, let us use his corner and hauled out a picnic table for us. Most of the customers we knew and most paid much more for their muffins than the posted price. (Free zucchini with extra donation!) Lorna asked if we could do this every day.