Our last e-newsletter brought the following email hello from Catherine Swaniker, who completed Yestermorrow's Basic Carpentry, Electricity: Safe and Secure, and Plumbing Demystified classes in October, '06. It brings us great satisfaction to know we are having an impact on a broad scale:

"Thanks for the newsletter. I am in Cape Town, South Africa participating in the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Community Build. What a rewarding experience! The Archbishop came to the Mfuleni Township where we are building 12 homes today. It was very special particularly because it was widely reported last week that his cancer has returned.

"The people in the township are very poor but very resourceful. Living conditions for millions of people here are really, really bad and they are so grateful for what we are doing. I must say the building courses I took last October are proving to be very helpful and I can't thank Yestermorrow enough for what it taught me. I will send more information/pictures when I return."

This year Yestermorrow's scholarship program is operating at a record-setting pace. To date, we have provided more class discounts and offered more opportunities for students to "earn" their education through work-trade than in any other year in our nearly 30-year history. If we continue at the current rate the total impact of our scholarship programs will exceed $75,000. We desperately want to maintain this pace and keep our doors open to students of lesser means, but in order to do that we need your help.

Fortunately, an anonymous donor has just stepped forward with a challenge grant. For each dollar donated to our scholarship program, this donor will contribute two dollars up to a total of $10,000. Like magic each dollar you contribute will become three! And if the campaign runs to completion, dozens of students will be granted the opportunity to benefit from the Yestermorrow experience. Why not make a donation right now, and take advantage of this "triple" effect? Simply use the envelope in the center of our fall/winter course catalog. Or use the link below to donate electronically via the Network for Good.

The turn of the calendar to 2008 brings with it one of Yestermorrow's most exciting educational opportunities -- Design/Build in the Dominican Republic. This course, a 17-day tropical adventure, brings together American and Dominican students to integrate the design and building processes for the benefit of a local community.

This year, students will design and erect a public structure in the center of the village of Rincon. The hope is that the project will encourage both locals and a burgeoning eco-tourist industry to intermingle, forging international connections and bolstering the local economy. Participants will gain invaluable design and construction experience, while enjoying a crash course in Dominican culture, a healthy dose of mid-winter warmth, and the extraordinary beauty of Playa Rincon. The course takes place January 3-20, 2008.

As a non-profit organization, Yestermorrow often looks to local and national companies for in-kind product donations for campus and class projects. These provide a win-win situation: For the donor, their product gets showcased in a high visibility location, or put directly in the hands of a population of students who are curious about the latest technologies. For Yestermorrow, these donations allow us to put the money saved toward programs and scholarships.

When the furnace in our intern house recently went on the fritz, local home heating and appliance distributor HouseNeeds stepped up to the plate and donated a Rinnai 556 space heater to the school. HouseNeeds is a fast growing retailer of tankless water heaters, radiant heating supplies, solar peripherals and ventilation equipment. You can visit them at www.houseneeds.com, or at their new showroom on Route 2 in Middlesex, Vermont.

Other recent in-kind donors include American Flatbread, William Maclay Architects and Planners, Milwaukee Tools, The Drill Doctor, Colonial Saw Company, Lee Valley Veritas, Japan Woodworker, Hitachi, and Chestnut Tool and Chowder Company. Yestermorrow offers its gratitude to all of these fine companies for their generosity and for supporting Yestermorrow's educational mission.