In keeping with the OPERATION: Sack Lunch mission we will umbrella a unique program called "SANCTUARY". Sanctuary is a mini camp and retreat for inner-city children. Forming collaborations with schools like First Place ( a school for homeless children 1st to 5th grade) in Seattle, we will offer a 'farm' experience at our family home on Whidbey Island. This is a secluded five acres of second growth forest, pastured land and more than 70 animals. Sanctuary will be a place where a child can sleep in a cabin, climb in a tree house, explore the forest, pet a llama, talk to a pot bellied pig, eat freshly laid eggs for breakfast, and dig in an organic garden. Area artists are anxious to hold classes that will allow the children to throw a clay pot, make a necklace, and ride a horse around an arena.
Our plans are to open in September for the 2003-2004 school  year. We have a wish list that we hope to complete before September. Things on our wish list are:
15 new washable sleeping bags, art supplies, a perimeter fence to prevent a child getting lost  in the more than 70 acres surrounding the property, and an outside play gym.

Over the past 14 years OPERATION: Sack Lunch has surmounted all odds with audacity, perseverance, and hard work, effected change in not only the lives of those we serve, but also those who volunteer to serve with us; students and adults, housed and houseless.

Over the past 14 years I have been invited to speak at hundreds of schools, businesses, civic based and faith based organizations, on poverty, hunger, community service, and discrimination awareness. Averaging 70 to 100 speaking engagements a year, there are times when it is not possible for me to show up in person. I am often asked if we have a tool that can be used in schools and other applications for special community service days, retreats and class project which will promote interactive exchange on diversity, tolerance and acceptance. To that end we are currently developing a curriculum, which includes a video, an interactive game, and an exercise in the visual and performing arts. Students use complex problem solving and analytical skills, as well as good old fashion imagination to learn about the diverse situations each individual may face as they progress through life and how small decisions can effect an entire life.

• First: We have a 30 minute video that features the work we do through music, interviews, pictures of volunteers and those we serve.
  
• Second: Another piece of the curriculum is dependent on roll playing by the participants. Placing themselves in the shoes of someone else, becoming for the moment, that person gives an insight to the many complicated situations that can face each of us in life. There are 30 different scenarios of an individual's life situation. One  example is Bag Lady Bertha. She is 54 years old, came from a fine house, married out of high school to an abusive husband. She has two children, one of which was also abused. She boarded a bus one day with her kids, and went as far as it her money would take her. She now lives on the street, her children grown, and has nowhere to go. After the monologue is read participants are encouraged to discuss, draw a picture, write a song, poem or monologue, or get together with other members of the class to create a play that depicts a day in the life of that person. They will exhibit these pieces to their classmates so that each student is exposed to dozens of different stories, each as unique as their own
  
• Third: The game, still in it's formative stages, is called the "Imagine That…What Would You Do?" game. There are 100 different real life scenarios. For example: IMAGINE THAT: You 32 years old, have a wonderful life partner, two children, and you are an executive in an up and coming internet company. One day you go snow boarding and ignore the "closed trail" sign. You go over a small cliff and break your back. You can't work, your hospital bills exceed your medical insurance, you spouse can't take the pressure and leaves you, you can't pay your mortgage and you lose your house. WHAT DO YOU DO? The student has a multiple-choice opportunity to either successfully traverse their situation or fall into poverty. This game operates on the premise that anyone can make a decision that will change their life path, regardless of age, race, abilities, background, or financial situation. Each answer either moves a player forward, backward or off the beaten path, depending on the situation. There are no winners or losers, just opportunities to learn empathy for another's situation.