Polly Dyer – Seattle • Entered by Penelope Peterson on January 16, 2025
Second Annual Gratitude Potluck
November 21, 2024 – November 21, 2024
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 4 |
| Post Admin hours | 2 |
| Activity Hours | 3 |
| Participants | 1 |
| Total Hours | 9 |
Key Issue: Doesn’t apply
Activity Type: Social Events (gatherings, potlucks, plain ol’ fun)
Measurable Outcomes
Outcome 1: Advocacy actions (10 letters/postcards)
Short Description of Activity
We held our Second Annual Gratitude Potluck on November 21 at noon at my home in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle. Some of our Broads had been feeling discouraged after the election. Also, they had just received the email message about financial difficulties and lay-offs at Broads National so I knew that some of our Broads were worried. We organized this gathering so that everyone could come together in community and express their thoughts on what they were grateful for. Everyone brought a dish to share. Unexpectedly, one of our Broads had a heart attack and could not attend so I got a card for all of us to sign and write notes to her. We also had a holiday advocacy activity. As part of the Climate Forests Campaign, we joined other Broadbands in decorating holiday tree ornaments, each with the message to save our mature and old-growth forests. This was a fun way to advocate for mature and old-growth forests on federal public lands this holiday season. Along with other Broadbands, we sent these ornaments to the White House CEQ when we are finished.
Reflection/Evaluation
Seventeen Broads attended, including three whose power had been out for four days due to the Bomb Cyclone that had hit a few days before. The Bomb Cyclone brought 70 mile per hour winds and knocked out power to thousands in the Seattle area. These three Broads came and were cheered by the opportunity to be with friends and also to recharge their computers, phones and generators at my house. Everyone seemed to be touched by the sentiments of gratitude that our Broads expressed. After the event, I sent our card to Natalie, the Broad who had the heart attack. Natalies was so affected by receiving our card that she then wrote us personal email messages of thanks for thinking of her. All in all, I think that our Second Annual Gratitude Potluck achieved its intended goals of continuing to build our Broadband’s shared sense of community and helping us to realize that our community can sustain us through difficult times. Indeed, we have much for which we should be grateful, including our friends and colleagues who share our values to preserve wilderness and protect wild lands.