You’ve all heard the story I often tell. When I first met with potential partners and sponsors, I would say, “If it feels like I woke up this morning and decided to start a Christmas festival… that’s exactly what happened.”
Armed with a generous $10,000 gift from my husband and a quest to find forty people who were as excited about the Festival of Trees as I was, I set out to build something from nothing. We had no social media following. No trees. No decorations. No volunteers. No leaders. And no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
In quick order, I successfully found 25 adventurous souls to join in the fun and we were off and running! It was crazy…
But somehow… it worked.
Why? Divine intervention, for sure. Hard work, absolutely. But mostly, it worked because those twenty-five people chose to believe in the vision—and jumped in with both feet.
That first year took a lot of faith. But we did it.
And then we did it again. And again. And again. And each year, it got better.
In just five years, look at what our amazing team has built:
We’ve donated and facilitated nearly $175,000 in cash to support critical work in our community.
We’ve recruited and engaged more than 3,000 volunteers.
We’ve built a leadership team of over 60 people.
We’ve auctioned over 600 Christmas trees.
And we’ve welcomed more than 75,000 guests through our doors.
That’s not small. That’s real impact.
What started as an idea has become something meaningful. Something that brings people together, changes lives, and builds community.
It hasn’t been easy. It’s taken love, sweat, and yes… more than a few tears.
But it’s working.
And now… we’re ready for what comes next.
In the coming weeks, we’ll begin sharing the next chapter of this journey.
It’s bigger than anything we’ve done before.
This next step will place us firmly in the fight against human trafficking, building strong partnerships, driving real collaboration, and creating deeper, lasting impact in our community.
If this work matters to you… if you feel even a pull toward it… this is the moment to lean in.
Because what’s coming next—
is going to change everything.
