Dear Greenbridge Family & Friends!

The Autumn weather has brought a refreshing peace & coolness to Greenbridge. During the summer, we tore down & rebuilt the back deck. In early Fall, we enclosed the front porch (a few friends commented they barely recognized the house). Now it is pumpkin season and life brings thoughts of hot soup & fresh bread, apple & pumpkin pies, hearth fires & making sure we're laying in enough wood for the winter.

In the first step in our growth as a Social enterprise, more than a year ago September, we began giving 10% of our gross monthly income to our favorite local & global charities. We have chosen to support organizations which educate, train & empower under-resourced people to move towards self-reliance and environmental groups which preserve & protect our natural world through education of the young and the young at heart. Since we started our giving, we've prioritized it and worked at making everything else work around it. We at Greenbridge really enjoy the pleasure of contributing to positive change in the world !

As a next step, recognizing that our longterm goals center around doing something like the Greyston Bakery with pottery (Artisan pottery & fiberworks production / bakery / coffeeshop / local storefront & national online store), we've begun to discuss & plan the activities which will take us closer towards this goal. We've been reading "Start Something that Matters" a book that Blake Mycoskie of Tom's Shoes wrote about his and other social enterprises providing specific tools to help folks like us to either give birth to or deepen our current efforts. Both the Greyston Foundation (founders of the Greyston Bakery) & Compassion International have contacted us to ask how they can further partner with us. We look forward to being mentored by Greyston Bakery, especially, which has been so successful in empowering under-resourced folks to find ways to become self-reliant through training and employment.

A few weeks ago, Susan Greenleaf called to ask if a friend who was riding her bike from DC to Boston could stop & stay over at our house for the night as her first stop on a long 2 week journey. The friend turned out to be Sarah Chayes, former NPR correspondant & founder of Arghand, a co-op of farmers & artisans in southern Afghanistan who, using local natural materials, oils & herbs, handcraft soap into beautiful forms resembling tumbled pebbles & hand-size stones. These "soapstones" bear hundreds of tiny marks from the real stones used to sculpt, burnish & compress them. Below right you can see the soapdishes we are designing to showcase these treasures. It feels great to support fellow artisans across the globe support their families & strengthen their local economy in the wake of war and to give the local farmers a concrete incentive to grow the crops (pomegranates, almonds, anise & other botanicals) used to make these unique beauty products instead of opium poppies.

When you plan your holiday giving this fall, please consider adding these uniquely beautiful soapstones to your list and feel good knowing you are making a difference abroad as well as locally when you shop ! Please be sure to check our constantly updated home page for special holiday hours & the music schedule as it develops !

Thanks for your support & for partnering with us to make a difference!

Peace, Love, Pottery & more,
Becky, Nick, Bine, Susan, Becca, Patty, Rose & Joe
            
       
Nick, Bine , Susan, Becca, Patty, Joe & Rose