The night was just superb. At first, I was concerned because there weren’t as many people as I had hoped…but the people who came were into understanding more about the Universal Living Wage and hearing Richard Troxell speak about it.
The Universal Living Wage explains how businesses thrive when their employees receive a living wage…and that wage is on a sliding scale so that someone in Denver pays a different wage than someone in Austin or NYC.
The wage allows someone to afford housing, and with housing comes stability,
and with stability comes happiness for the employee and the employer. These are my simple words, not Richard’s. If you want to learn more about how it works, visit the http://www.universallivingwage.org site. Learn how you can get involved and make a difference. How homelessness affects all of us, just not those on the streets, struggling to survive. At the going rate of $5.15 an hour, no one is thriving or making ends meet.
The sweetest moment for me, of the evening, was when Colleen’s painting went for $750 dollars…she is Richard’s 13 year old daughter, and the painting was of a gypsyesque woman praying in her long black robes, covered in beautiful jewels and bracelets. Watching Colleen’s face was precious…she was so proud to be helping her dad help others.
Jason volunteered his culinary expertise, so the hor-deurves were excellent.
David and Sue volunteered their gorgeous home on the hill…so we had a comfortable, open house to gather in.
My friends who donated so much of their time…Thank you to: Cat Reynolds, for gathering 3/4 of all the signatures on my purple electric guitar…which brought in $3000!
Rafe Foreman, who came all the way from Dallas, was our live auctioneer. Hilarious! And he can do that, “Do I hear four hundred dol-five five fiddy going for five now I hear sixdo I hear six fiddy” reaaaaaally fast.
Peter Bay, conductor of the Austin Symphony…for allowing himself to be auctioned off for a dinner date!
Eddy Hobizal…for coming and providing piano music…
Gene Cowan for making a 10 minute video piece on the ULW and Richard that we could show to everyone attending…and that Richard can use to further the ULW campaign. Thank you, Gene!
I feel so blessed to have friends that step up to the plate when I ask them to participate in something so important. They really made the night. Thank you.
todd
says:golly, sara, i can’t believe people wouldn’t take this chance to talk to you as much as they could. i’ve been listening to your music since i stayed with my friend from austin after my ex & i split in 93. you & nanci griffith got me thru a lot of tough times in that year. i saw you play on a small stage at an abandoned school in eugene, oregon, and a year later, when you opened for nanci in seattle (and busted your guitar playing the train-sex song). and then the next night, at a small club in seattle (you weren’t able to make it to archie mcphee’s, you said, for your usual supply of gifts for the audience). that was another tough year for me, and to see you twice was just wonderful.
i love the cds i do have, and i hope to have a job again someday (insert political diatribe against inept horrible admin in washington!) so i can buy the rest. if i remarry and have kids again (i would like to, seeing how much i missed of my sons because of divorce), i will buy your cds for them/us. (of course, someday they ought to make good grandparent gifts.)
i hope you can keep writing. i enjoy it. and i hope you can come back to oregon, to corvallis specifically, where i now live. i just had the cable removed, so i may never see your ep of Food 911 (unless my brother tivos it), so i would be willing to settle for a live show.
keep up the great work!
peace.