Hi everyone!
The Octoberfest was today.
Let me explain. The Octoberfest is a local annual event in the township park. It is one day of the year where hundreds of vendors set up tents and cause traffic jams on the major roadways of Boardman, OH. I personally had never been until today. It was Carrie's idea to set up a table in the arts and crafts section of the Octoberfest for Brandy to raise awareness and get donations for bracelets.
This week we reached an exciting number, prior to the Octoberfest. The bank account hit $1,000!! An incredible feat. The Vindicator (vindy.com) ran an article after an interview with Carrie and I at YSU about the bracelets and the bench/tree that we aspire to. The article printed FRONT PAGE on Saturday.
It was a lot of hard work to become present at the Octoberfest; it was a lot of printing, YSU paid for a 2' x 6' vinyl banner that I designed that we hung across a six foot table. We set two other tables to box us in beneath a canopy/tent that Brandy's grandma owns. The facepainting table was on our right. I made a sign that said it was a $2 donation for a facepaint. Steph (Brandy's little sister), her friend Sam, and I painted faces all day, and Carrie, Kathy, Carrie's boyfriend Kevin, my girlfriend and sister all helped with collecting donations and giving information, answering questions, etc, as people walked by and read our signs and information. (Sam also had printed a poster explaining our situation.)
Quickly the donation jar filled, and the cash drawer (that I had borrowed from work and filled with 100 dollars worth of ones and fives) was growing.
A reporter from a local station called my cell phone. She found our tent and spoke with Carrie, Kathy, and I, to let people know how it was going.
Some people visiting our tent cried. Some presented themselves with anger at the crime. All were sincere, and all reached out. I watched everyone, young, old, alone, and in groups slow down and read that sign that Sam had made. We had a line of people waiting to get things painted on their faces. The kids were adorable. I tried to keep the mood positive, especially given our environment. This was a happy thing. We are working toward something great.
Mariam Fife had visited our table and sat down with Carrie. (Her story is an interesting one as well, if you're not familiar with it, her son was brutally murdered in the mid '80s.)
Well, the marching band had retired and the sun was setting. Our visitors were leaving the park and it was time to call it a day.
Carrie skimmed the collections and approached me slowly with an indescribable look on her face. I didn't know what she had been doing, as I had been folding chairs and cleaning the facepainting table. "One thousand dollars, Krysti, there is one thousand dollars here," Carrie said in a whisper. I couldn't believe it. We reveled in the thought of the bench being so close.
She gave me the donation jar with all of the funds. We took it home so that I could deposit it into the account.
I came home and cut the grass hastily, as I had to work for 5 hours tonight as well. I didn't get much of a chance to feel what I did as I walked from my car to my house after my short shift, glancing at Orion in the sky... Brandy has been heard. Her quiet voice has strummed the chords of people in so many places. A tear came to my eye as I felt her presence and smiled knowing that in a few short weeks, December at the latest, this bench will be in the concrete of the campus she attended.
What a story. What an invigorating day.
