Krista Colvin, 45, is organizing her life again after taking what she calls a “sabbatical” to beat breast cancer.
Colvin, a professional organizer in Camas, has recently published a booklet called “Organize the Whole Shebang, the Smart Woman’s Pocket Guide to Doing it All.” The 3-by-5-inch portable product is simple and tells you what to do and when.
“This is my relaunch” getting back into the organizing industry, Colvin said. “It’s made for clients who are in transition,” she said, whether that’s a job change, a new baby, an unexpected diagnosis or a lifestyle change.
“Smart women have a plan,” Colvin said.
Now that she’s cancer-free, Colvin can focus on her business again.
The self-published product was designed by Katie Jenks, one of Colvin’s former marketing students at Hudson’s Bay High School, and printed by Columbia Litho in Camas.
This is the first in a series that Colvin has in the works. Other pocket guides she sees are a meal-planning guide, a “Man Plan” for men who want to get organized, guides for new moms, teachers, and from her own experience in the medical community, how to stay organized while going through treatment.
Her 32-page booklet is available for $7.95 at local businesses and on http://www.organizethewholeshebang.com.
— Ruth Zschomler
Man devotes retirement to feeding the hungry
Asked what he was going to do when he retired, Lew Lardie blurted, “I want to do something to feed needy people.” He didn’t have a plan and really didn’t know where to start.
It was 1985, and he was living in Southern California and retiring as a district manager at Proctor & Gamble’s food division. He wondered what large corporations and companies do with surplus food. Before the week was over, Lardie was touring a food bank and learning a national group was selling food to local food banks for 10 cents a pound. The food was donated from large corporations and others.
The nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, Feeding America, and its network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.
Lardie had an idea: ask members of his church in California to contribute 10 cents for every meal they ate. That 10 cents would equal one pound of food. Church members responded.
About six years ago, Lardie, 87, moved to Vancouver and proposed the very same idea to his congregation at Family of Christ Lutheran Church. On Jan. 8, they reached the magic number: 1 million meals.
Once a month the church “passes the bucket,” averaging about $1,000 per month. Lardie delivers the donations to Feeding America (http://www.feedingamerica.org). Twenty-six agencies from Clark County buy food from the national group at 5 cents per pound. All the money collected by Lardie and his church returns to this side of the river at local distribution centers. For example, recently Lardie had $1,836, which bought 36,720 pounds of food, which provides 28,246 meals.
— Mary Ricks
Bits ’n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, call Ruth Zschomler, 360-735-4530, or email ruth.zschomler@columbian.com.
