I want to start this week's letter off by saying that I have never worked with a better group of people. In the last six weeks I have seen so many people give up their free time, or take time from their jobs to work together side by side to make this dream come true. The thing that amazes me is that nobody seems to be motivated by ego, or agenda, or a desire to be in the limelight. Everyone is motivated by the common goal of helping SFAC succeed in restoring the SJ campus to its former glory, turning it back into a viable, self-supporting entity, and therefore providing a year round home for the Fine Arts Camp and in the future many other arts and educational organizations. 

I have never heard so many dusty, dirty grime covered people turn to me or to one another and say "thank you, you're doing a great job, thanks for being here". To me this is what community is all about. If I had any doubts in the beginning that SFAC could pull this off, they are long gone, buried beneath the many hours of hard volunteer labor, and the many layers of grime and neglect being lifted from every surface, every day. 

Take, for instance, the group of campers who gave up their day off of school last Friday to pull old carpet out of Stuart #1 cottage, clean and scrub Stuart #2 and break down dozens of cardboard boxes for recycling. Or the group on Saturday who spent the day doing the unglamorous job of scrubbing the walls of Kellogg in preparation for the Sitka High School student council, who has volunteered time and funds to purchase supplies and paint for a paint party on March 13th. Or the group plugging along in the North Pacific upstairs lobby, sanding and painting old paneling and caulking old windows in order to provide a place of rest and reflection for the wonderful SFAC artists and musicians who give so much of their time to teach our kids. 

During the week, as I wander through campus, I will hear a whistle, or see a light, and come across someone working away. Someone who has "just a few hours, so I thought I'd come finish up my project" or " I noticed this needed to be done, so I thought I'd go ahead". One such person, knee deep in rotten subfloor, summed it up nicely when he said "You know, I'm here for SFAC, and I'm here for the campus, but mostly I'm here because I think this is the greatest thing that's happened to Sitka since, well maybe since I've been in Sitka!" (And this person's been around for more than a little while). 

So, if you feel you'd like to help but you're just too busy right now - don't worry, we're not going anywhere! And if you're reading this newsletter, you're already helping, just by caring enough to check in, stay informed and pass on the good energy.