Within minutes of meeting Donna I was drawn into her energetic passion for improving life for people and the planet. She began volunteering for the Outreach committee with Carol Spurling, then moved to helping Sequoia as part of the FACT (Farmer Advocacy Crop Team.) This group surveys what's in season with local farmers, creates recipes, then samples them out while telling people about where the foods come from and how to eat local.

When Donna went back to school, time constrains caused her to shift her volunteering job at the Co-op. Recently she staffed the voting booth and her son, Dane, worked throughout April as the 'Bag Monster.” You may have seen his imposing figure making the rounds through the store. Sometime soon Donna will begin writing for the Co-op website.

Donna is getting her degree in sustainable food systems. This major doesn't actually exist at the U. of I., so she is working with the university to create the program. She is in the McNair Achievement Program, which encourages first generation college students to continue their education and get master’s and doctorate degrees. Because she is dealing with some very ill family members, she is postponing work on an advanced degree in bio-regional planning. For now she plans to take a second senior year, hopefully with an internship.

Donna lived in San Diego for 26 years and worked as a massage therapist for the San Diego Chargers. She then spent ten years in the Pacific Northwest between Pullman, where she attended WSU, and Seattle. She began to miss the beaches of California, so she returned to San Diego for six years. While there she enrolled in Whole Food and Nutrition classes, which was the beginning of her interest in food systems. Their motto was, “Let food be your medicine and medicine your food.”

Though she was making good money, Donna eventually tired of the noise and traffic of city life, and missed having time with her kids. She moved back to the Palouse and has happily developed a really good relationship with her children, Dane, 16, and Rowan, 5. She still does massage therapy but expects to move away from that profession within three years. Her bigger passion is for developing community and food systems. She hopes to eventually teach or work with projects like finding funding to make improvements to the U.of I. sustainable farm.

Donna has a friend from the Netherlands where they build cities around bicycling, unlike the U.S. where we build cities around cars.  She said in the Netherlands “the community takes care of itself, while here the focus is on individualism.” Donna so likes the Netherlands' system she considered moving there, but has chosen instead to stay and help educate people here to improve our way of living. One of the things she likes best about Moscow is the community spirit.

Donna's favorite quote and philosophy is, “Destined to be an old woman with no regrets.”

Terri loves the riot of color spring flowers bring and is grateful for all the gardeners who plant floral rainbows around town.