Cohousing-L Mailing List: Charming way to raise funds for a cohousing community project

[oz (oz]

Fundraising page:
http://www.gofundme.com/2nmw58

18-minute video she created to share about Songaia and the goats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcwy5QqdmTU

(the sound quality isn't very good, but her point of view is charming)

One of our renting members just posted this on a crowd-funding website:

My wife, 10 year old daughter and 5 year old son live in the Songaia
Neighborhood - a cluster of intentional communities located just North of
Seattle in the town of Bothell, WA. It’s very fulfilling to live here,
knowing we are providing our 2 children a positive community based
experience with good values. And with life lessons, a big one came to us
last year that impacted us all.

Our 10 year old daughter decided her way of contributing to the community
would be to assist in caring for the goats on the property. Two of the
goats were pregnant and she witnessed the birth of both of them. She
learned about life and creation. The goats became family to her. She was
with them every day to feed them, take care of them and keep the older
goats from being rough with the kids when they were old enough to all be
together. And then one day, our daughter shared with us that she was
worried for the baby goats safety. She was concerned that the adult goats
were being too rough with them and they should be moved. We reacted by
saying it would be fine and they be okay.

Within a week of each other, 2 baby goats were killed...and my daughter was
introduced to the concept of death. We were devastated by the events, and
that we let our daughter down by not listening to her intuition to separate
the goats. It was a huge error in our judgement, and no amount of apology
could match the emotional impact this had. And in a strange way it brought
community together and offered my daughter leadership in community. Some
community residents questioned if we should keep our goats after this
incident. The result was different. Our daughter inspired intention for
better care for our goats. Her actions rallied people together, motivated
the need to create better housing and shelter for them, and justified why
we should build better shelter for keeping hay/feed dry. This is what we
are going to do. Our goal is to raise $2500, which will provide what we
need moving forward for our goats to thrive. Breakdown of contribution
needed:

· $150 – 1 workshop on goat health, care and maintenance for community
· $1400 – Repayment to the community for providing fencing, feed, and
care...to be used to support the expanding garden, food forests and food
program
· $75 – 4’ Hanging Hay Feeder
· $379 – Calf –Hutch Shelter for up to 6 goats ( http://www.ezhutch.net/)
· $500 – To build covered Bale Hay Storage

Your help to reach this goal will mean a lot to the goats, to us and to our
little girl. You can see a short video she created that introduces Songaia
and the goats here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcwy5QqdmTU

There will be much sadness if we do not make this goal. We thank you for
your support and time to share this with your friends, family and
community. Check out our reward options for your contributions!

For more information about The Songaia Neighborhood, please visit
www.Songaia.com.

About Songaia: My family moved here 3 years ago. We were drawn to the lush
gardens, forest, and to the abundant philosophy of living and sharing of
resources offered here. Last year we harvested 4,400 pounds of organic
food, and used much of it in shared community meals 5 days a week. People
engage and support community in different ways...all based on the Passion
Principle. Some work in the garden, some help gather the food for each
meal. Some cook and prepare food or help out maintaining the land,
equipment and structures. Some assist with the care of our goats and honey
bees. Since the land was purchased in 1987, Songaia has evolved into an
internationally known community for its socially sustainable practices and
for its uniquely abundant food sharing program.