Hopa Mountain News Blog

Join Big Fork author Barry Schieber and Hopa Mountain and Bozeman Public Library staff for a talk by Schieber along with children’s book activities and a book give away on Sunday, April 29, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Bozeman Public Library. This event is open to the public and free-of-charge to all children and their families.

During this celebration of friendship, Barry Schieber will share memories of the adventures he had with his beloved Bernese Mountain dog, Moritz. A series of children’s books authored by Schieber captures these adventures and will be given away to families. One of the books to be given away to participating children, An Open Heart, was illustrated by Bozeman artist Hedvig Rappe-Flowers.

Schieber recently donated more than 10,000 of his books to Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman-based nonprofit organization that invests in rural and tribal citizen leaders, adults and youth, who are working to improve education. The April 29 event will celebrate this donation and provide free books to children who attend. Through Hopa Mountain’s StoryMakers program, Schieber’s books will also be given free of charge to children throughout Montana in 2012 to encourage a love of reading.

The themes of Schieber’s books focus on healing, generosity, and kindness. Nose to Nose is a memoir about healing. Recovering from emergency surgery in a foreign country, Barry Schieber brought Moritz as a puppy back to Montana. He had never thought of owning a dog, any dog – let alone one that would soon tip the scales at over a hundred pounds. A Gift to Share is a book about generosity. The story follows the adventures of Moritz the puppy as he moves from Switzerland to Montana and learns to be a therapy dog. An Open Heart follows Moritz on a hike to the Bob Marshall Wilderness where he teaches Barry about kindness. Moritz has recently passed away.

Explaining his donation, Barry Schieber shared a favorite quote from friend, Tsering Gellek, “I am convinced that while interest, effort, and resources provide the foundation of any undertaking, aligning yourself with inherent goodness is by far the most powerful and surest way to get things done.”

“Barry Schieber’s very generous donation will help to ensure that all Montana children have access to high-quality books of their own,” said Hopa Mountain’s executive director, Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer. “We are humbled by Schieber’s gift and his vision for what is possible for Montana’s children. As a result of this wonderful donation of books, Hopa Mountain has planned a series of children’s book events throughout the month of May to give away his books and encourage summertime reading.”

Hopa Mountain’s StoryMakers program is an early learning program serving rural and tribal children and their families. Through community teams of local citizen leaders, StoryMakers supports parents and primary caregivers as they provide the nurturing home learning experiences that lead to children’s success in school and life. Through these citizen leaders, who come from the fields of education, social services, and medicine, Hopa Mountain’s StoryMakers program offers: high-quality, age- and culturally appropriate children’s books as tools to enhance children’s social, emotional and cognitive development; current parent-friendly child development information and book-sharing ideas; and personal encouragement to shape home life for children’s success with relationships and learning. A growing body of research confirms that a strong early learning home environment predicts children’s success as readers and students. Success in school strongly predicts good health and economic self-sufficiency in adulthood.

For more information about the April 29 children’s event at Bozeman Public Library, please contact Hopa Mountain at (406) 586-2455 or info@hopamountain.org

A two-day Grassroots Fundraising workshop will be taught April 20-21 in Bozeman to introduce the basics of fundraising, donor development, and grant writing. This workshop is specifically designed for small organizations or those organizations just starting to develop a fundraising plan and program. It is open to all nonprofit staff, Board members, and interested community members. Everyone is welcome to participate.

This workshop will be taught by Liz Harrison, Director of Development and Communication for the Lewis & Clark Humane Society and Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, Executive Director of Hopa Mountain. The workshop will begin on Friday evening, April 20 from 4 – 8 p.m. at the C’Mon Inn in Bozeman and will continue on Saturday. April 21, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

All handouts and related materials will be supplied at the workshop. The cost is $55/non-members, $45/members. For more information, or to receive a registration form, please email info@hopamountain.org

Hopa Mountain is a Bozeman-based nonprofit organization that invests in rural and tribal citizen leaders, adults and youth, that are working to improve education, ecological health, and economic development (www.hopamountain.org). Hopa Mountain provides leaders with training, mentoring, and networking opportunities. The cost of this workshop is $45 for Hopa Mountain members and $55 for non-members. For more information or to register, please call 586-2455 or email info@hopamountain.org.