There are times in the life of an organization (or person) when the perfect people show up to usher in the next stage of evolution, people who are so fundamental to the journey that you can’t imagine what would have happened had they not been there. In the last few years, we lost two such people for GRuB.
Brian Sims played a key role in GRuB’s creation story. Only Brian would see the potential benefits of connecting his morning barista’s fledgling garden project with an in-development senior housing project. He had read research showing that Elders facing gardens out of their apartment windows had better health outcomes than those facing gray concrete. He connected Blue and me (Kim) to Bob Wildenhaus, who worked for Providence and was leading the development of the St. Francis House, a subsidized apartment complex for seniors with low incomes. In the year that followed, we co-designed and created a garden and horticultural therapy program there. Bob and Brian both became founding board members of GRuB, with Bob serving as our first president. Years later, when the GRuB farm was in jeopardy when Bonnie Turner, our longtime land donor passed away, Brian helped us secure a loan to purchase the property and helped recruit new board members (like Nita Rinehart) who would be fundamental to raising money to pay back the loan and upgrade the farm. Brian saw such potential in the people around him. He knew that ordinary people can do extraordinary things together. He cared deeply for the individuals doing that important community work. We lost Brian way too early, but his legacy is wide-reaching and deeply embedded in the hearts of both the people who knew him and all those who have been touched by GRuB’s work.
Nita Rinehart came into GRuB’s life right when we needed her. GRuB was facing a huge opportunity/challenge to both purchase the GRuB Farm and to build a permanent home. It would take more money than we had ever attempted to raise. Nita joined our capital campaign committee. I remember before the first meeting, Brian Sims pulled me aside and said, “Kim, do you know who Nita is?” “No”, I sheepishly admitted. “She was in the state legislature for 20 years, first woman to chair the ways and means committee, and ran for governor”. “And she wants to help us? Cool!”. After my initial intimidation, I came to deeply admire Nita’s no-nonsense intellect, her get-it-done-now-ness, and her extensive understanding of government. She helped us secure $130,000 in government funding for the farmhouse. She brought leadership to the board of directors and overtime became a mentor to me in my own leadership journey. Nita also was a vocal advocate for our work, actively recruiting her friends and colleagues in and beyond Thurston county to be donors, over time raising tens of thousands of dollars for our youth program. She was generous with her home where she hosted board retreats and fundraisers. She continued to support us until she passed away this last summer, with her last gift to GRuB being a Bouquet CSA for a local friend of hers.
The beauty of community work really is the community. The people who are drawn to GRuB’s mission tend to just be really stellar human beings who believe and make visible the notion that we can create the world we want. Brian and Nita were two such people.
