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Hello World! : Our Very First Post for a Purpose

Pack for a Purpose, or PfaP as we tend to refer to ourselves, is thrilled to announce the start of its blog! We intend to use Blog for a Purpose as a way to inform you of all of the relevant, hot off the press PfaP items. In addition there will be as in-depth information regarding current projects on our site and projects as they evolve. We will also share tips that can help you make the most of your PfaP experience and ways that you can participate and make a big impact even when you’re not traveling. Every two weeks, our new post will be waiting for you when you visit our site. Please, share your favorites with friends and fellow travelers.

It is my great pleasure as the founder of PfaP to introduce our incredible team of volunteers:

Erik Macenas is our talented and devoted web designer and board member. Not only has he designed a wonderful website, but he constantly updates any items needed (such as our Home Page and brochure) and creates new media designs on request. Erik is brilliant at collaborating with the PfaP team. He is the consummate design professional and besides being our volunteer, runs his own graphic design company. In the last two years, he has donated over 1,200 hours of his time on our behalf.

Karen Keith is currently our Twitter mistress and board member. Karen came to us as a gift from the Universe and Meredith College as our first intern. During her internship Karen’s research followed up by outreach resulted in a 100% increase in the number of lodgings listed on the website. Karen was a key contributor to our first newsletter. In addition, Karen made sure that our information was stored in the most efficient manner possible. She took the chaos that was my Inbox and turned it into organized, titled folders which were easy to open and information specific. Knowing it would break my heart if she left, she graciously continued as a volunteer. Realizing what a great asset we had in Karen, and how her younger voice would add depth and diversity to our board, we asked her to become our newest board member, which she graciously accepted last May.

Victoria Brooks is our SEO specialist and will work on our Facebook campaign. Victoria was another gift, but came directly from Karen, not the Universe. Karen and Victoria both worked together previously and when we needed an SEO volunteer, Karen kindly asked her if she would be our volunteer. As a bonus, she brought along her fiancé Nathan Cavicchi, who also has great skills in this area.

Cindy Wittmer is our attorney and board member. Cindy is a dear friend of long standing who assisted us by providing all the work to register our trademark pro bono. She was also kind enough to contribute to the necessary fees involved. Cindy, as you would imagine, is an excellent wordsmith and has made great contributions to the text on our website.

Jan Karn, a board member, is also a dear friend. Jan, along with her husband Rob are entrepreneurs who own and manage two different companies. Jan gave me the initial push as she calls it to finally get Pack for a Purpose going. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Jan is also an RN (registered nurse) who graciously collected stethoscopes, a blood pressure cuff, and many other supplies for our trip to Kenya in 2008 before Pack for a Purpose was even born. Using her expertise in Public Relations Jan is assisting us with creating our virtual press kit, which should be uploaded to our website under ‘Resources’ in the next few weeks.

Kristen Hoyle is another good friend( by now you can see how fortunate I am in my group of friends) who shares many other international interests with me. She is our go to board member on all CPA things non-profit. Kristen has donated all the time we needed to be sure we were properly set up from the start and continues to serve on our board in that
capacity.

Justin Scheef is our incredible webmaster, who in addition to running his own business, has done all the coding and changes on our website as a volunteer for the last two years! I call him Mr. Blink Blink, since he seems to do everything in the blink of an eye!

Scott Rothney is my husband and has been very involved in PfaP , as one would imagine, from the start. He serves as Secretary on the board (yes he was out of the room momentarily when we voted on that position) and is always my go to guy when I need help taking care of something I am doing on the internet. My tag line is only spreads sheets on a bed, thinks blackberries belong in a cobbler and that text is found in a book. You see why, although since PfaP I am learning more skills, he comes to my rescue on a regular basis!

Brittany Goodman was our second outstanding college intern who created our first You Tube video, worked to publish our second and third newsletters and continues to volunteer a year after her college graduation. Lucky for us she found a job in her field in Raleigh. In her current capacity, she fills in as a generalist graciously taking on projects whenever there is a need.

Melissa Mikell is our current fantastic intern. She is enrolled in a Masters program at North Carolina State University. Melissa skills have a big a huge asset to us as we continue to look for more appropriate lodgings around the world for our website. She will also publish our next newsletter coming out in early April. With all her other responsibilities, Melissa has also been an excellent tutor and helps me increase my internet skills.

PfaP is grateful for our generous partners! They have provided resources, support and outreach which enable us to reach a global audience. As an all volunteer organization, the support of partners who are established in their fields was a huge benefit in our initial stages and continues to be so. We have a list of all of our wonderful partners located on our website https://packforapurpose.org/supporters/

We are extremely delighted to announce and welcome our newest partner to the PfaP family Luxury Link. Founded in 1997, Luxury Link is a leading travel website offering unique travel experiences at more than 1200 five-star accommodations around the world. Luxury Link pioneered the concept of online travel auctions and has used the platform to support multiple organizations over the years including the American Red Cross, the World Monuments Fund, Habitat for Humanity and now, Pack for a Purpose.

We look forward to enriching your reading with posts that will inspire, inform and entice your intellect in the years ahead.

Thank you for your support,
Rebecca Rothney

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