ranger lady Blog

Year Two; Anniversary Date: 2/23/2012

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Two years now and looking forward to the future.

2011 was a rewarding year for Ranger Lady, Inc. Early in the year I was worried about the economy and the ability to receive adequate contributions to buy new socks and undies for those who need them in the facilities we serve. As the “Season of Giving” approached and the year end got closer, the mail packages kept arriving, filled with gently used bras and cash contributions!

All total a huge number, 689 bras, were given.

How wonderful to be blessed with family, friends and contacts from across the country who were so generous in a difficult economy.

Last summer’s travels enroute to the Motor Maid convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan brought many contacts. After convention I road across Canada and out across the Thousand Islands Bridge into the United States, a most amazing site. I visited with my daughter and her family in New England for a time. After three weeks I headed west again visiting many family and friends. It was a wonderful journey and I hope to make many more like it in pursuit of finding great women who want to contribute their gently used bras to those who need them.

Thanks again to Matthew Blades of Mix 96.9 in the Phoenix radio community who donated 300 bras from his “Wall of Bras” for Bras for a Cause and the many women whom I’ve met through Motor Maids, Inc. for their kind gifts. Thanks again to all the cash contributors too, its huge, really!

So let’s “Pass the BRA Forward” and give Ranger Lady, Inc. your “Support” and we promise to “give your old BRA a good home”.

Matthew Blades: Bras for a Cause

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:03:48 -0700

The latter part of September, Riley, my youngest son, sent me a text. Nothing unusual as this is the main source of our communication. I was on the freeway returning home from tending our grandson for the day when the text came through. A brief text with a link to a radio station and something about breast cancer and bras. Upon arriving home, I researched his message and the link and went to the radio station’s website, finding the contact info for Matthew Blades. Matthew and Mix 96.9 were creating an event on October 7th at Tempe Market Place for Breast Cancer awareness. A Wall of bras! What a gold mine to me, the seeker of gently used bras! In looking over the ad they were looking for a place to donate. Last year they donated to Sojourner Center a advocate for domestic violence victims and survivors. I wanted to be a part of that donation. I sent an e-mail to Matthew and received one back that day. The connection was made and an opportunity created. The event was a success as they had gathered 3,000 bras by 8:00 a.m. Ranger Lady, Inc. was fortunate enough to receive 200 of these bras which will serve those who are forgotten and often hidden from society, the mentally ill in facilities, forgotten nursing home residents and our homeless that get resources from shelters. A BIG thank you to Riley! And a BIG thank you to Mix 96.9 for considering Ranger Lady, Inc. in 2011!

2010 pre-delivery packed up

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:46:42 -0700

A successful effort!

The joy of motorcycling . . . solo

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:04:51 -0700

This summer I had a marvelous journey. When I started making plans to attend the 2011 Motor Maid convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan I knew it was a long way to go. I thought if I’m going to that far for a convention on my motorcycle then I might as well go all the way to New Hampshire to visit our daughter and her family. I made my plans via Google Maps and Street View. I felt like I had already been on the trip and now I just needed to actually go and take pictures! I’ve never traveled that far on my motorcycle so it was rather intimidating to think about the full trip. It was an exciting idea to think I was actually going to do this journey. A bit over confident and intimidated at the same time, I only planned the outgoing path and didn’t worry about what roads I’d take on the way back. With a new motorcycle I didn’t worry about mechanical issues or bad tires or oil changes. I just got ready to go, packed the bike, did a couple of rides to check my weight and on the day of departure I took off knowing all was prepared properly. My first fearful discovery was my GPS was missing ‘the voice’! I panicked. I rely heavily on ‘the voice’. I just had to deal with it and forced myself to actually look the device in the face and learn how to read its directions. This meant I HAD to pay attention to it, not just listen to it. This process proved to be a great blessing. After 52 days away from home, 28 riding days, across 18 states and 2 provinces, I slept in 30 different beds in 20 hotels, I visited 7 different family and friends, stopped at 22 Harley dealerships and experienced a million priceless memories for a total of 7,890.1 miles round trip, solo! I loved it.

Never Fear What You Know is Right . . .

Tue, 7 Jun 2011 15:39:19 -0700

I was told by an attorney that getting non-profit status for a public charity would take up to 1.5 years.

I dreaded the thought of waiting that long. I postponed doing anything further on my own due to fear of paperwork, filling out an application that I might not understand and just plain old waiting it out. After attempting to get a professional to help me with the application and the economy taking over the attorney’s business I felt like I was put on the back burner. I asked Blake to help me with it. He did, but he went to save the .pdf and it didn’t save his data entries.

Frustrated but not deterred, I went a different venue. I finally sucked it up and filled out the application myself. After several attempts I finally got the online .pdf, from the IRS.gov website, filled out correctly and submitted it April 15th, 2011.

Thus my mind and heart said I have plenty of time to work my plan and wait. May 25th, 2011 while in Iowa attending a funeral on my birth-father’s side of my families, my husband collected the mail and in our evening conversation he told me that Ranger Lady, Inc. had been approved for the 501(c)3 status! I was ecstatic!

It was a matter of 15 business days. That’s it! Holly cow!

Lesson learned: Never postpone paperwork or let my fear intervene in my path of knowing what is right and good for me to do!