Hopes and Dreams
Hopes and Dreams
Hopes and Dreams matter to us adults and to the kids we support, encourage, and adore. This is Gabe. One of my #PostCOVID summer camp kids at Mezzacello Urban Farm and there is a great story here.
Fearless Dreaming
[Gabe] taught me to not be afraid of my dorkiness, but to always lean into what I was passionate about.
Jim Bruner
In June of 2021 the world was realing from the devastating effects of the COVID19 pandemic and the global mandatory lockdowns through all of 2020. Fear was everywhere. But I KNEW - I KNEW - I needed to give people hope here at Mezzacello. After all, it had sustained Rick and I all through the pandemic.
I just needed a brave cohort of families to trust in me and my partners at PAST Foundation to share their children in a summer of transformational learning. All courtesy of the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation. So we launched the BioLEGO and ProjectMartian Grants.
It was still a very scary time. COVID deaths could rise again and everyone had to wear masks still.But more than anything we all of us wanted to learn, dream, grow, connect, and hope for more. I met some remarkable people that year.
Enter Gabe
The kids in my two camps that year, BioLEGO and Project Martian were so amazing. They wanted more from life. They wanted fun, mystery, challenges - and they wanted to connect.
After a year of isolation, they were nervous, but more human now than ever. Gabe was a fabulous kid in my Project BioLEGO camp. He taught me to not be afraid of my dorkiness, but to always lean into what I was passionate about.
A kid. A kid modeled this for me and MADE me believe it. It was Gabe's idea to take this photo.
Who Knew Robots Could do this?! Samuel in Fin 2 Feathers Workshop
Jim Bruner
He casually informed me that we were BOTH going to wear the same hats in this photo. Black stetsons that I wear a lot. And we were going to pose for the camera, but we had to also wear the NASA helmets.
He SAW that I was willing to dream, he WATCHED me lay down for 30 minutes after every meal that I ate for two solid weeks straight. He KNEW I wanted a brighter future for ALL kids. So we took this photo together.
People Can Be More Than One Thing At A Time
Gabe and I were both wearing NASA helmets. You can't see Gabe's helmet, he is way too cool. Gabe wanted us BOTH to be farmers and astronauts.
The backstory here is that JUST THAT DAY, Gabe had asked me what I thought about every day - three times a day after I ate - what I thought about lying still for thrirty minutes. I told him the truth: I think about all the ways that I plan to change the world.
Gabe decided right then and there that he wanted to change the world too. He didn't need to be JUST a famous Tattoo artist on YouTube, he could also be a fabulous nano-fabrication lithographist on Mars. People can be more than one thing at a time, Mr. Jim.
This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023.