January, 2005 News
Recycle, Reduce, Restyle

WabiSabi 2005 Our organization hopes to bring the essence of WabiSabi to life. We are here to help our nonprofit partners through educational outreach and financial awards. We are here to help the community by recycling material goods and providing low-cost items for those in-need. We are here to encourage people to be informed about all the people working hard to improve our quality of life and to cast their vote every time they shop and donate. It is our hope that we have created a vehicle of change, a community hub where individuals can help make a difference. Every act has an impact, even the simplest thing of giving away a used toaster can positively impact our community.

Director Notes According to Megan Griffen, an 8th grade student at Paradox Valley School, who participated in a Holloween art project , “Wabi-Sabi is where you take a huge bag of junk and make a creature.” I believe that Megan is right. Every day we take in “junk” the stuff overflowing in people’s closets and garages and we feed our creature – an organization that exists to enrich and support our community. It is a multi-colored beautiful creature that speaks many different languages and believes that our children deserve a healthy environment and our animals deserve a home. It is a benevolent creature that believes in the gift of giving, that new is not necessarily nicer and that our trash could be our salvation.

As I transition out of my job at WabiSabi, I am grateful for our vibrant community full of creativity, enthusiasm, and determination. I am grateful for all the nonprofits that embody the essence of wabi-sabi – working hard to make our community a better place to live. And I am grateful for WabiSabi the creature, and the staff, board and volunteers – the creature’s caretakers. We as a community have collected a lot of junk, but if our beautiful creature is right, we just might be able to turn all that trash into treasure. Sarah Bauman, Executive Director

Fat Tuesday Fashion Show - February 8, 2005
This Year’s Fashion Show promises to be the best yet! WabiSabi has solicited the help of Moab’s finest designers with the one stipulation they use 100% recycled materials for their fashion designs. The WabiSabi creations accompanied by the designers and their models will hit the runway at 7pm on Fat Tuesday, February 8th at the Elk’s Lodge. Guests to the show are encouraged to dress for Mardi Gras and a prize for best costume will be awarded. Admission is $10 ($7 if you wear a Mardi Gras costume) and all proceeds benefit local nonprofit organizations!
Letter from the president of the board, Craig Hibberd What a year for WabiSabi! Last spring the thrift store building on 100 West was suddenly condemned and WabiSabi was temporarily out of business. After a few months of hard work and some anxiety, there are now two, even better thrift stores. Customers, staff and friends of WabiSabi have shown their support this year in a big way through volunteer efforts, donations, and personal sacrifice.

Both thrift stores are quite different - each with it’s own personality. The “Thriftique” on 400 East is a little gem of a store – with a great variety of unique and sought after items. The “Warehouse”, by the city offices, is a great place to wander around and rummage for things in the best tradition of old-fashioned thrift stores.

What’s next? As you may know, Sarah, her new baby Herbie, and the board are looking for a new executive director to replace her. Sarah will still be involved with WabiSabi, just in a different role. She is a true visionary – bringing a real community spirit to WabiSabi. This is refreshing to see in any organization, particularly one as small as WabiSabi. Did you know WabiSabi has given over $11,000 to other nonprofits in Moab?

In a small way, Moab is a better place to live because of WabiSabi and the people who make it happen

~The people of WabiSabi ~
Staff: Sarah Bauman, Jeff Cohen, Ocean DeGraw, Holly Dinsmore, Lucy Pedersen, and Nate Osgood
Board: Scott Anderson, Terry Fearing, Craig Hibberd, and Robin Zank

Volunteers

We can not thank our volunteers enough! The following people have given countless hours helping in every aspect of WabiSabi’s operations.


Thrift Store
Dave Jacobs, Deanna King, Carol Brown, Susan Storrs, Mike Shacon, Mirella Dinsmore, Sarah Melnicoff, David Morgan, Jen Rodocker, Jim, Cas Sorenson, Drew Dominick, Sam & Merv, and Ian Groo2004 Fashion Show
Sue Allemand, Scott Anderson, Pam Allred, Kristina Bolster,Tony & Susan Bothelo, Jeff Cohen, Laurie Collins, Amber Dalton, Brooke Degraw, Ocean
Degraw, Holly Dinsmore, Ted Draper, Isaiah Flint, Forest & Tina, Craig Hibberd, Tali Hice, Marc Horwitz, Elenore Inskip Bon Kelly, Star Kolb, Christine Lanier, Barb Lawley, Adah MacIndoe, Uriia MacIndoe, Marie Moore, Julia Myers, David Morgan, Annabelle Numaguchi, Bob Owen, Kiran Renfro, Robbie, Daniel Shellabarger, Mara Shurgot, Chris Simon, Liz Tainter, Colin Topper, Mandy Turner, and Jenna WoodberryWabiSabi project updates
Our nonprofit partners
In 2004 WabiSabi’s board of directors voted to change the way
we award funds. In an effort to build deeper realationships with our nonprofit partners, the board decided to choose nonprofits based on an application process as well as our desire to support the diversity of our community.

In December of 2004 the following organizations were chosen to be on our 2005 list. Shoppers and donators will have the opportunity to vote for one of these nonprofits. Visit our website for more information about our nonprofit partners. www.wabisabimoab.org.

Amigos Club
Canyonlands Community Recycling Center
Canyonlands Film Society
Hospice
Humane Society of Moab Valley
Infant through Youth
KZMU
Living Rivers
Moab Poets & Writers
Native American Club
Seekhaven
SPLORE
Youth Garden Project

Make A Difference in Moab Fund
The “Make A Difference in Moab” fund was established in 2003 to connect individuals’ innovative and unique projects with appropriate nonprofits that will assist in bringing the projects to fruition. The fund awards small grants to those projects that demonstrate a desire to improve our environment, enhance our quality of living and/or increase our sustainability as a community and a species. The fund is open to all individuals who believe that their work is making a difference in Moab. In 2003 the Make a Difference in Moab Fund awarded small grants to three different projects, including the Moab Community Bike Project – building bikes that are free for the community to use for in-town transportation, English as a Second Language course for adults, and the production of an educational film focused on bringing awareness to environmental problems and their solutions. The 2004 deadline has been extended to February 14, 2005. For more information and application guidelines please visit our website at www.wabisabimoab.org.

Workshops
In an effort to become a greater community resource, WabiSabi has sponsored a series of workshops designed to build skills, promote cultural awareness, and introduce alternative and environmentally sensitive practices to the community as a whole. Since 2003 Workshops have included Alternative Building, Native Plant Identification, Financial Planning without Fear, Feng Shui, Alternative Building House Tour, Keeping Cool in Moab – Energy Saving Techniques for Your Home, and Bicycle Repair 101. Future workshops include Cross-Cultural Cooking, Braided-Rug Weaving and Nonprofit Board Development. If you are interested in conducting a workshop or you have an idea for a workshop please contact us at 259-3313.


Native American Outreach
Notes from Lucy Pedersen – Managing Director & Reservation Outreach Coordinator
Moab is a very bountiful place. Since WabiSabi has expanded to two locations the donations have doubled. We are grateful for the quality and quantity of material goods donated to us by our community. However, a great deal of what is donated we are unable to sell for various reasons and yet, these things are not garbage.

In response to this large surplus, WabiSabi has partnered with Castleland Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) and Seekhaven Family Crisis and Resource Center, to distribute these material goods to points outside of this community and into areas of need.

For the last two years Sam Cunningham, RC&D Chairperson, has been working with WabiSabi to do just that. Together we have been taking a stock trailer loaded full of clothing and household goods to several points on the Navajo Reservation, on an average of once a month, serving over 500 families throughout the Navajo Nation.

Stephanie Dahlstrom, the Executive Director of Seekhaven , recently secured a Grant for a new truck. Congratulations! Seekhaven is also blessed with a surplus of material donations at the shelter. The grant is in part allotted for distribution of surplus material goods to the Navajo Reservation.
And so a partnership has begun. We have taken our first shared load down to the Sweetwater area of the Reservation and we are tentatively planning to take one trip per month for the next two years. Our goal is to reach out to a new community each month.

I am thankful for the opportunity this has given me to create new friends and develop new dynamic partnerships full of exciting potential.
Thanks for Giving! Lucy Pedersen, Managing Director


What does WabiSabi mean?
Since we were founded in 2002, this has been a popular and important question. I always tell people that there is more than one answer to this question. It is a Japanese term – two words linked together that come to represent the beauty of imperfection, of transcending ways of looking at things, of slowing down and appreciating the signs of age and of love. But more important than its physical manifestation, is the essence of Wabi-Sabi revealed in behavior, action and being. According to Buddhist Priest Shisho kanzaki, “Manner and behavior is most important. If you are always thinking of other persons, you can understand the real wabi-sabi.”


A special thank you to Earth Studio for donating our beautiful WabiSabi sign!