Sponsor A Staffer

To make a donation to a specific staff member click on their name below, to make a general donation to support the entire staff's efforts, click here.

Perhaps you can't participate in the EcoChallenge this year as an EcoChallenger and still want to be involved. Or you support sustainability education and want to make a tax deductible donation to bring NWEI programs to more communities. Or you have a few minutes to spare for some honest to goodness pleading for your hard earned dollars.  If any of the above apply, read on:

The EcoChallenge is the Northwest Earth Institute's largest fundraiser, and we plan to raise over $30,000 from October 1 through October 15--we can do this with your help!

 Sponsor me! By our Executive Director, Mike Mercer

My EcoChallenge is to reduce my waste sent to the landfill by over 50%.

You should sponsor me because:
A)    It’s harder for an old dog to learn new tricks.  I am the oldest dog in the NWEI house.
B)    Because I get paid more than my staff, I have more money to spend on stuff that creates waste.  In essence, their waste governor is more rigid than mine, so my challenge is more challenging!
C)    For the most part my colleagues only have to change their own behaviors – to be successful, I have to train my daughter and my parents (how’s that for role reversal?).
D)    Everyone wants to support a winner.  I didn’t win the competition last year, but with your largess how can I not win this time around?

 No! Sponsor ME! By Kerry Lyles, NWEI's Development Director

My EcoChallenge is two-fold-- I will focus on trash reduction and water conservation. After taking on the 100 mile diet during last year's EcoChallenge I searched far and wide for a challenge that would be as challenging. But I think I found it: I will almost entirely eliminate plastic purchases from my life; AND install a grey water system and rain barrels to reduce our water usage by approx. 25%. 

Sponsor me because I am going to need all the moral support I can get to make the nearly-no-plastics challenge a reality in this crazy plastic-centric world we live in; and cutting water usage by 25% isn't a small feat either. Combine the two and, well, you get the point... don't make me beg... please? [See pleading eyes below]

(Or maybe you want to base your sponsorship on who has the cutest dog, in which case, this is also my entry for NWEI's (the World's?!) Cutest Staff Dog):

 Well, I think you should Sponsor ME.  By Deb McNamara, Director of Business Partnerships

Here are 5 reasons to Sponsor Me:

1. I am a sleep deprived mom of a toddler.  (Isn’t that enough?) – and ANYTHING I do beyond being a mother right now is an act of sheer miracle.  (No, really, I am serious). 

2. How many other staffers are getting their babies involved in the EcoChallenge?  Rowan is giving up all snacks that come in non-recyclable/non-biodegradable packaging as well as has committed to 100% cloth diapering… Now THAT is impressive – and he is only 13 months old!

3. Eating locally in Colorado isn’t as easy as in the Pacific Northwest.  My eating local challenge is simply more difficult.  Therefore, you should sponsor me over the rest of the Portland staff.  =)

4. I have chosen a TRIPLE EcoChallenge – triple the challenge and triple the impact…How many other staffers are taking on food, waste AND transport???

5. I am holding the NWEI fort down in Colorado and need all the NWEI support I can get from the NWEI community as I expand our work to ever-further mountain horizons!

(Me and my toddler, Rowan)

Or... ME.  By Jonathan Jelen, Outreach Director

Listen, there are  lot of worthy people here on the NWEI staff.  But I think it’s important to really make sure you feel a certain camaraderie with whomever you choose to support.  Me? I tend to be a list-maker.  So here’s is a list of 10 things I like: 

1.    Music, particularly some great jazz
2.    Hiking and camping
3.    How a dog naturally smiles when they’re hot
4.    Desert environments
5.    The Chicago Bears, Bulls, and White Sox
6.    Broccoli and green chilies
7.    Edward Abbey and William Stafford
8.    The Big Lebowski
9.    Doing genealogy while listening to Frank Sinatra
10.  Great photography

If you don’t find yourself agreeing with at least three of these, there’s probably another NWEI staffer who more suits your style.

If, however, you agree with 4-7 of these, it’s likely that we’d be pretty good friends.  And since that’s the case, you really should help your friend out by sponsoring him.

If you like 8-10 of these things, you’re just about contractually obligated to sponsor me.  I mean, you and I are practically the same person.  So why wouldn’t you support yourself (or in this case, me)?  The Earth would want you to.  The Dude Abides.....

(Smiling Dog, Suna)

Forget everyone else, I am the one you want to Sponsor! By Sarah Menzies, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

How’s this for a challenge: I’m kicking my addiction to fossil fuels!  No car for two weeks.  Ok.  Easy enough, I’ve got my bike that I LOVE riding!  No plastic.  Also pretty doable, it was my EcoChallenge last year after all.  But what about my food?  I love eating out in Portland, but I’ve got to admit, I don’t know where most of that food is coming from!  With a cold summer, my garden is not thriving as well as I would like, and even my local co-op brings produce in from far off lands.  I suppose that means farmers markets.  Going out on weekends?  My whiskey certainly doesn’t grow on a tree in my backyard, so I’ll have to cut that out as well.  And the list goes on…

I recently spent two weeks on the Gulf Coast “bearing witness” to the largest environmental disaster in US history: the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  After hearing countless heart wrenching stories from out-of-work fisherman and local business owners, and eye witness accounts of the effects of the catastrophe, I returned home feeling very responsible for the damage.  I decided that I needed to start taking steps towards limiting my dependency on fossil fuels.  This isn’t going to be easy!  In fact, as I write this I’m beginning to worry about what I’m taking on with this challenge.  But these two weeks will give me a lot of insight into what an oil-free lifestyle looks like.

I hope you will support me in my challenge!  I accept both monetary support, as well as emotional support, as I may be needing a lot of that once I get this going!

The competition is stiff, but I think you should Sponsor me! By Jenna Ringelheim, Director of Higher Education and Organizational Partnerships

Jonathan and Kerry have already plugged the puppy angle (although, my two Portuguese water dogs would rule the catwalk (dogwalk?!) against Stella and Suna any day!)

I do not have a cute child like Deb (although, maybe that means you should support me, the one not contributing to population growth)

I am not NWEI’s amazing Executive Director (although Mike did point out that he makes more money than us – remind me why you want to support him?)

I unlike Sarah had to work this summer when she was vacationing on the Gulf Coast (which means I will give Ms. Menzies all the emotional support she needs when YOU help ME win this Challenge.)

If all else fails – I vow to make my world-class all-organic mom’s recipe Banana bread for the highest bidder!!

Wait! Please read about my EcoChallenge plea before you make a donation! By Meg O’Brien, Curriculum Director

Okay, I have to admit my colleagues have some pretty good EcoChallenges and some pretty darn cute dogs and babies.  But before you are swayed by their emotional ploys, hear me out.  My EcoChallenge is to reduce my family’s driving by fifty percent.   Maybe you’re thinking, big deal, Sarah is giving up driving altogether, but heck, how hard is that for a single person in Portland with a bike?  My EcoChallenge, however, involves the whole O’Brien Powers family.  That means not only my handsome, loving husband, but two young, cute, and impressionable children whose sustainable habits can be reinforced by your financial support!  We have a very cute cat too, but his transportation is mainly limited to laps around the house.

Now, the timing of this is what makes it so challenging.  Really, it would be no sweat in the summer when we don’t have to worry about getting to places on time.  But by October 1st, school, fall sports (that’s five different sports schedules, folks!) and extra-curriculars are in full swing.  And the rainy season seems to have already arrived.  We will be faced with challenges like taking Owen’s cello on a bike or crowded bus, Scott won’t have the option of driving when it’s dark and rainy and only 5 in the morning.  We’ll have to learn to navigate Tri-met to the far reaches of the metro-region and beg for rides for our kids to their practices and games. 

This EcoChallenge will require a lot of planning and foresight.  But more than that, it will demand some pretty heroic parenting.  Erin and Owen, as cute as they are, are going to provide some pretty formidable opposition.  Taking the bus to school means getting up half an hour early and believe me, getting them out of bed in the morning is no walk in the park.   And at 10 and 12 years old, they seem less swayed by arguments like “we’re biking because it’s fun and we love polar bears!”   Now they have their own opinions and ideas about the world.  For instance, they strongly believe that every other mom on the planet happily drives their children to and from their destinations without lecturing them about fossil fuels and climate change.  Is this true?  And their protests and arguments have grown more clever, like “if we take the bus, I won’t have time to do my homework and practice my violin.”   Or, “I’ll bike if you’ll buy me a composite baseball bat.”
 
See what I’m up against?   But Scott and I are up to the challenge and with your emotional and financial support, I know our family can succeed!  We’ll not only help clear the air and save the polar bears, but my children will have had a valuable learning experience that no doubt will shape their lives and convince them that their mom was right all along. 

C’mon, don’t  you want to help a struggling mom teach her kids to do the right thing?