This must be some sort of record....

2 blog posts in ONE DAY! Unheard of here in the land of Charlotte and Liz :)

I wanted to post this separately from the last post so it didn't get lost amongst the knitting, running, and ocean!

I'm not sure that Charlotte or I have ever posted about how we met and became friends, and I think it's high time one of us explains it (this has a point...really, it does!).

In 2002, I applied for a job at a very special summer camp called the Double H Ranch. Double H is part of a larger organization founded by Paul Newman; the Hole in the Wall Association. All of the camps in the HITW Association cater to children with special health care needs, and Double H is no exception.

I ended up working as a lifeguard at HH in both 2002 and 2003 and had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people, including Charlotte. After my first summer, I was hooked. After the first summer, Seth and I started volunteering for family weekends and the Adaptive Ski program that runs at Double H in the winter. The family weekends are especially fun because you have the opportunity to work with a smaller group of people and really get to know the kids and families. I think it was during these weekends when Charlotte and I became especially close friends. :)

Camps like these change peoples lives (this sounds totally cliche, but it's true...). Charlotte also worked at Victory Junction (also part of HITW) and the Center for Courageous Kids (not part of HITW, but also serves children with special health care needs). It's hard to put into words how working at camp changes you. But it does. I think everyone who experiences camp comes away with new lifelong friends and about a million amazing memories.

Well, apparently my nonstop talk about camp inspired a friend of mine to raise money for Double H (hence the real reason for this post!). My friend Eric will be riding in a 100K bike ride on September 12th to raise money for the Ranch. It was incredibly humbling to find out that I (and my many stories about camp) had inspired him to do this.

He is only $5 away from his goal of $250, and word on the street is that he's going to up his goal to $500.

So, if you'd like to help him reach his goal please check out Eric's Team Hole in the Wall page! (psst, check out his adorable baby on that page, too!)

Okay....I'm seriously going to go be productive now (although, one could argue that blog postings about charities is productive!).

liz :)