The Last Hill Before Home

An amazing event

2009-09-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

On November 19th, 2007 I set off on an around the world trip. The plan was to visit South East Asia, India, Africa, Europe and South America over a stretch of 10 months. On Saturday, April 25th, 2009 (17 months later) I finally made my way back to San Francisco, CA. Instead of stepping off a plane at San Francisco international Airport I came back on a Raleigh 300 cross country touring bike via Panama City, Panama.

My 17 month around the world experience was a life changing experience. My travelling mantra of "try anything, do everything and challenges are only opportunities" changed the way in which I see the world. Along my travelers I met many different people from all places on this beautiful planet. Before I came home I wanted to do something to give back to these amazing people and to this beautiful world. So...I decided to ride a bike from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco, CA. I did this to raise awareness and funds for children living in poverty in Central America. Specifically, the goal was to raise $15,000 for a school construction project in a small community 3 hours north of Guatemala City. I worked with an amazing organization Plan USA. Combined with Plan USA and supporters from back home in San Francisco we created The Last Hill Before Home. A grassroots all volunteer project aimed to create solutions for children living in poverty in Central America.

I got back to San Francisco on April 25th, 2009. By the time I rolled across the Golden Gate bridge the Last Hill Project had raised $11,000! Not bad especially considering the economic time that we live in today.

To raise the remaining $4,000 we decided to throw one last fundraiser. The Last Hill project decided to turn its attention to a one day special photography exhibit benefit and auction. For the fundraiser, I would gather together 6 other photographers that I met on my trip around the world. Bringing together these photographers was a challenge in and of itself but the hard work paid off. When all the photographers were picked I had a collection of 7 photographers with 7 photographs. Each photograph told a unique story about travel and culture. These photographs became the backbone of the "7 Views" photography exhibit. In addition, we were lucky enough to get 111 Minna Art gallery in downtown San Francisco to host the event. On top of that, San Francisco's local emcee Orukusaki provided an amazing line up of entertainment. from there, the Last Hill's very own Michael Ward presented a poetry reading and another artist Michael Peterson donated an amazing original piece of art. the stage was set for an amazing day.

About 150-200 people from the local San Francisco community rolled out to the event. The photographs were amazing and inspiring, the music was entertaining, the poem was moving, the painting was breath taking and the crowd was supportive. Everyone came together to and talked about giving and helping and in the end the last remaining funds were raised for the school construction project in Jalapa. With the funds the 400+ children of Jalapa, Guatemala will be able to have a clean and safe place to be educated. For the first time there will be enough space to open up high school classes. And maybe, eventually, these kids will be able to attend college.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the event. It was a spectacular time!

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Photo's for sale - Help the children of Guatemala

2009-09-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

$30
Chennai, India
Wandering through the slums
Rishi Oswal
rishio.com
15x20
$45
Sliding Across The Sky
Valle de la Luna, Atacama Desert
Trekking through the Atacama Desert in the Spring of 2008.
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Aaron Zukoski
lasthillbeforehome.blogspot.com
12x18

$35

Tel Aviv, Israel
This was one of a series of spectacular sunsets that I witnessed during my stay in Tel Aviv, Israel. On this day the sky had a pink purple tint and horizon was clear except for this one sail boat.
Wei Hu
whereiswei.com

6.5x20

$45
Every satsang and puja ends with a ceremony know as 'arati'. A flame, symbolizing the light of knowledge, is waved before images of the deities and teachers while mantras are chanted. Likewise the ego vanishes without a trace when incinerated by the dawning of knowledge.
Rishi Oswal
rishio.com

15x20

$45
“Gateway”
St Louis Arch, Missouri
Joshua Rapp

13.5x20

$30
OK Pilot
Brian kelleher
http://www.gravelbox.net/

12x18

$30
Wilhelm Scream
Brian Kelleher

http://www.gravelbox.net/

12x18

$30
“The Fight”
Carson Pass Trail, Sierra Nevada Mountains
Joshua Rapp

12x18

$30
“Keeping Time”
Astronomical Clock, Prague
Joshua Rapp

12x18

$30
Rehasher
Brian kelleher

http://www.gravelbox.net/

$35
Neyar Dam, India
Morning Sunrise past the clear lake against the backdrop of the mountains.
Rishi Oswal
rishio.com

15x20

$30
Indian Smiles, Yukson to Tashiding
Sikkim, India
We were walking between the small rural villages of Yuksom and Tashiding when this Ute of four children went past.
rataphotography.co.nz
13.5x20

$25
Sakes Alive
Brian Kelleher
http://www.gravelbox.net/

12x18

$25
Mamallapuram, India
Walking under rock formations
Rishi Oswal
rishio.com

12x16

$40
West Coast
South Island, New Zealand
This was the first freelance commercial work I had done and the first helicopter flight I had been on. When we’d come to the coast I whipped around and took a few quick snaps of the coast line, it looked amazing.
Lisa Howard
rataphotography.co.nz

12.5x18 $45
Sliding Across The Sky
Valle de la Luna, Atacama Desert
Trekking through the Atacama Desert in the Spring of 2008.
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Aaron Zukoski
lasthillbeforehome.blogspot.com

Friends....

Thank you to those of you who made it out to the "7 Views" Photography exhibit benefit and auction at 111 Minna on September 19th. Our community came together to view some inspiring photos from around the world and to raise money and support for a school construction project in Jalapa, Guatemala. In total, about 150-200 people came to the event in San Francisco and with your help we hit our goal of $15,000. The construction is already in progress in Gautemala and in a short time the community will have 2 new classrooms to house 400+ children and to bring much needed education to the community.

A few people have expressed interest in purchasing one of the remaining photos from the event. Above are the photos from the event that did not sell. I have also attached a discounted price to the photo. If you would like to make a contribution to the children of Guatemala via Plan USA you can do it today. Please email me if you would like to purchase one of the remaining photos. All donations are safe and secure and will go towards the school project in Guatemala. I can be reached by email and my address is below.

Thank you again to all that came out in support.

Peace,

Aaron

azukoski@gmail.com

To make a donation...
http://www.firstgiving.com/lasthillbeforehome

I can deliever the photo to you directly if you live in the Bay Area. If not I will have to ship. Price does no incuding shipping.

The photo exhibit

2009-09-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yo!

It's been a while since the last post. And there is a good reason for that...busy...busy...busy for the "7 Views" photography benefit and exhibit.

Where do I start? Lets start with the week before the exhibit.

The week leading up to the exhibit was probably one of the busiest weeks of my life. First off....thank you to Brian and Casie for all the help and support that week. Without the two of you I certainly would not have been able to get everything together.

The Monday before the exhibit I started a new job. That's another story for another blog. In short...I'm with an awesome company called Trulia. they are an online real estate search engine. An awesome company with great vision. They help people find homes and help real estate professionals connect with those buyers. I started work on Monday and with that I was back in the great American workforce. So, my days, were filled with dot com stuff and at night I was busy working with Brian and Casie on the event. All of the small things started to catch up with us like cutting cardboard backs for the pictures and inserting them into sleeves. It was all busy work but in the end the photos looked amazing, the programs were ready to go and the show was finally here. It was all a lot of 2am nights but it was well worth the work.

111 Minna, in downtown San Francisco, is the perfect place to throw a fundraiser, especially one that has an artistic element. The event space was perfect! Alfredo was working hard on the entertainment and his band's came through! The music was a great element to the party. Mike's poem was also such a great add to the party. His poem drew in a large round of applause and one of his friends even bought the photo that inspired the poem. Mike's friend, Mike, had his painting on display. It was also an artistic interpretation of the entire ride from Panama to San Francisco. I attached the photo above. The painting was auctioned off for $200 with the money going to the school in Jalapa.

Brian and I got to 111 Minna at 8am. It was fun setting up the photos for the show. Probably one of the coolest stories from that day came at 9am on Saturday morning. Michelle, the event planner for 111 Minna, noticed one of the photos. While she was looking at the photo she got on the phone to her sister. The photo is by Brian Kelleher and is of the punk rock band NOFX. Apparently, Michelle's sister is married to one of the guys in the band. On top of that....the guy in the picture is Michelle's brother in law! Brian took the picture of NOFX in a small bar back east. Its an awesome photo! What a great way to start off the event! Michelle called her sister and she came down to the event with some friends and put a $80 bid on the photo...and won it! Brian if you are reading this...you might like to know that your freaking awesome picture of the lead singer of NOFX is comfortably chilling at his condo in the SOMA district of San Francisco! hahahah!

All in all the event was an absolute success. About 150 to 200 people came through the doors at 111 Minna. The music was fantastic, the photos looked professional and everyone was in great spirits at the event. We raised around $3,000 in total and with that we hit our goal of $15,000. The IF which is the young professional club of the World Affair Forum co-sponsored the event and brought a large group of people. Poem's were read, stories were told but most importantly awareness was raised for children in need of help and a school is going to be built in Jalapa, Guatemala.

Plan's Regional Development Director, Kristina Miletic, also came out to the event to pass out a few flyers and meet some of the attendees at the event. She is a total trooper because she flew in that morning and had to fly out that night for an engagement. She brought down a ton of information on Plan and we were able to pass it out to the people that came threw the door.

There are a million thank you's to give out but I think I may save that for one special long thank you blog. but...for all those that helped make this event successful THANK YOU!!!!!!

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Mike's Poem

2009-09-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

My great buddy Michael Ward and I at our fundraiser for the Last Hill Before Home at Le Scorpion in Los Angeles.

For those of you who missed it...Below is Mike's poem that he read at the "7 Views" photography exhibit benefit and auction at 111 Minna in San Francisco on Saturday, September 19th. His poem was inspired by two things. One, he wrote the poem as a if he were me. He got the content from stories that we shared as we rode our bikes from Panama City, Panama to the border of Costa Rica. It was an amazing 2 weeks that we spent together and a time that I will never forget. Two, he got inspiration from the photo above. The photo above I took while walking across Spain on the Camino de Santigo. It is one of my faviorte photos from my journey and this poem was inspired by that. The trip and this fundraiser has been a life changing experience for me...one that I will never forget. Hewas able to put this amazing story to life through his poem.

Mike...Thank you so much for the poem and having the courage to stand up in front of a room full of strangers to deliever it. It was an amazing thing to do. Much love...

Born as a simple thought in my mind
A fantasy to leave the daily grind
I poured my energy into this thought
Becoming detached from things I’d bought
Life is not about the big tv
Or these thousand count sheets
So much more for me to see
Beyond these crowded streets
So strong was this thought
It eventually became real
I sold off most possessions
I listened to what I feel
With no idea what I was going to find
I knew I had to leave it all behind
Setting out into the great unknown
How can I describe all the things I’ve been shown?
I walked the world for over a year
Through many lessons
it became very clear
The trip was the beginning
Rather than an end
From all corners of the world
I made many a friend
The places the people
Each playing a part
Teaching me in life
You must follow your heart
I realized that no matter
Where my shadow may fall
That I am
We Are
A part of it all.
With one world
One people
One sky up above
In spite of our differences
We share One Love
Little by little
I began to see
The trip was about more
Than just me
It played in my head
Like the words of a song
“give back to that which I belong”
Scary and crazy it would seem
But I felt my calling,
It became my dream
My vision was born
In piece and bit
When it came together
I knew this was it
All of my travels
Brought me here
At a moment in time
It all became clear
Many of days
My shadow stretched long
Each step I took
Was a verse to this song
It took the world
For me to roam
So together
We could climb
The Last Hill Before Home!

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Entertainment for the Event at 111 Minna on Saturday, September 19th from noon to 6pm

2009-09-15T20:26:00.001-07:00

Here's the lineup...

Sat Sept. 19th 12pm - 6pm

12:00pm - 1:45pm - (D.J.s)

1:45pm -1:55pm - OrukusaKi

1:55- 2:10pm - Cio Castenada

2:10pm - 2:25pm - Amy Serrata

2:25pm 2:30pm (band setup/DJ)

2:30pm - 2:55pm - Sarah Jaye

2:55pm-3:00pm(band setup/ DJ)

3:00pm - 3:45 pm Panthellion

3:45pm - 4:00pm (D.J.'s)

4:00pm - 4:45pm - Davu Flint

4:45pm - 5:00pm Plan USA / Aaron Z [speach]

(announce silent art auction ends 5:15pm)

5:00pm - 6:00pm D.J.'s

event ends at 6pm sharp

(artist sites)
http://www.panthelion.com
http://www.amyserrata.com
http://www.orukusaki.com
http://www.myspace.com/davuflint
http://www.myspace.com/ciocastaneda

Peace,

Aaron

7 Views - Bringing together travelers, photography and philanthrophy

2009-08-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Photograph courtesy of Rishi Oswal.

Photograph courtesy of Aaron Zukoski.

Photograph courtesy of Lisa Howard.

Photograph courtesy of Joshua Rapp.

Photograph courtesy of Brian Kelleher.

Photograph courtesy of Brian Kelleher

Photograph courtesy of Wei Hu

Photograph courtesy of Tom Robinson

Amigos...

The movement of prayer flags at Thorung la Pass, Nepal to the deep blue lake at Atitlan, Guatemala to wandering monks in Angkor Wat, Cambodia to punk concerts in New York, New York...this exhibit has the unique spirit of photography and adventure. Moody, inspiring, thought provoking, breath taking, energetic, vibrant and chilling are some of the words that I've heard when showing the samples for the "7 Views, 7 Travelers: Photos from Around The World" exhibit. The idea of this exhibit is to bring together 7 photographers and showcase their unique way in viewing the world that we live in today. I met each of these passionate characters on my 17 month around the world trip. None of them have met but each of them share 3 things in common: a special way of viewing the world through the camera lens, a love of travel and the desire to use their talent to give back to a greater cause.

I hope you can all make it out to the "7 Views" Photo exhibit benefit and auction on Saturday, September 19th from noon-6pm at 111 Minna Art Gallery in San Francisco, CA. The event is going to feature 7 amateur photographers and their photos from around the world. On hand will also be two live bands, a poetry reading, a special talk from the beneficiary, Plan USA, and a few stories from yours truly. The event is FREE with a suggested donations at the door, 21 and up and open to the public. At the end of the day all the photographs will be auctioned off with all proceeds going towards Plan USA and a school construction project for children living in poverty in Jalapa, Guatemala. Come on out to check out some inspiring photos or hear some cool beats on 111 Minna's awesome sound system or come out to simply show your support for the kids of Guatemala.

Above I have included 28 samples of the 49 photos that will be available for auction at the event. I finally received the last of the photos and this is the first time that I have put the samples together in one post. Over the past 2 months I have been collecting the photos from the photographers. Our photographers are scattered around the world and are in places like New Zealand, China, Australia and the UK. This truly international exhibit is a showcase of their amazing work. A special thanks goes out to all the photographers that have been kind enough to donate their amazing photography.

The Last Hill Before Home is an all volunteer project whose mission is to bring a solution to the problems that children face who live in poverty in Central America. The goal of the project is to raise $15,000 for a school construction project for a small community near the town of Jalapa, Guatemala. The school will provide the 400+ children of the community a safe and clean place to learn. The school will also provide a place for the children of the community to attend high school for the first time. With this safe learning environment the children of Jalapa will be able to open up doors of self-growth, optimism and opportunity.

This event will mark an end to this grassroots project that started back in November of 2008. Initially, I wanted to do an inspirational event that would bring attention and awareness to this cause. So, on January 19th, 2009 I decided to ride a bike from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco, CA. The entire ride crossed 8 countries, spaned over 3,500 miles and took 3 months and 7 days to complete. The ride finished on April 25th, 2009 when I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and rolled back into San Francisco. The ride is over and this "7 Views" event is the finally of this truly amazing project. I hope you can all make it out!

For more information on the photographers you can check them out here...

Rishi Oswal

http://www.rishio.com/

Wei Hu

http://www.whereiswei.com/

Lisa Howard

http://www.rataphotography.co.nz/

Tom Robinson

http://www.tomrobinsonphotography.com/

Joshua Rapp

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124736721575#/profile.php?id=1417578291

Brian Kelleher

http://www.gravelbox.net/

For more information about the event and to R.S.V.P.

http://www.facebook.com/azukoski?ref=name#/event.php?eid=115940855189&ref=mf

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

111 Minna

2009-08-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

I just went onto 111 Minna's webpage because I was going to send their link to a friend. I noticed that 111 Minna has a calender of event on their main page. Well I also noticed that September 19th had a link on it. Guess what came up...

Check it...
http://www.111minnagallery.com/?m=20090919&cat=3

I'm going to have to thank Risa for this...THANKS RISA!

Risa has been working on our press release information and she is getting the word out. Lookin Good!

Aaron

Hovclick.com

2009-08-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this killer Popup by Hovclick.

My buddy Blake added a Popup to my blog. On the popup itself we added the flyer to the event PLUS a link to the facebook event page. Now when one of my thousands of readers (hahahahah) go to the blog they'll be be (hopefully) directed to the event page.

Thanks for the help on this Blake!

www.hovclick.com

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Kickin it with Mike

2009-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Mike and I are headed out to the cituy to pass out some flyers for the event!

Nice car bro!

Aaron

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Orukusaki

2009-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Alfredo 'Orukusaki' and I are hard at work setting up our entertainment lineup for the exhibit at 111 Minna. Alfredo has a ton of contacts into the entertainment indusrty in San Francisco and he is putting together a dope lineup for the show.

For the show at 111 Minna he's got two hip-hop DJks, 3 solo musical live performances AND a live band. Alfredo will also be throwing down some of his own lyrics on a 15 to 20 minute set at the show itself.

This is going to be an awesome party. Save the date folks Saturday, September 19th from noon to 6pm.

Check out Alfredo's web page here...

www. Orukusaki.com

After working on the lineup for an hour or two at his cool and hip pad on Haight street in San Francisco we hit up a small trendy bar called Laszlo in The Mission to meet the DJ's that will be spoinnng at 111 Minna. Its was a fun night filled with rice and veggies at Fredo's pad and Red Stripes at Laszlo.

Thanks for the help on This Orukusaki!!!

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Why??????

2009-08-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken somewhere in the country side in Panama sometime in January of 09. Here I am chilling with my bike Caesar. Riding a bike from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco wasn't a part of the plan when I left home back in November of 07.

Why did I take off and travel?
Why did I ride my bike 3,500 miles across Central America?
Why am I holding yet another event?

The simple answer...I guess...is because I was looking for a change. I was looking for inspiration. I was looking for a challenge.

The reaction- I found all of those things and now I want to give back. I want to help. I want to give the same opportunity that I have recieved to others. I want to at least provide an option to people who may not have that luxury. I set out to do something and now...I feel so close to making that happen.

I've told my story before on this blog but I think I'm going to tell it again...

Back in September of 2007 my life was going along at it's usual pace. I was the Director of Sales and Partner of a small real estate boutique in San Francisco. We were doing real estate finance. The market was starting to slow and some banks even started to go under. My business partner and I had hit some sucess but times were getting harder. We lost a bit of money, had to lay off some people and calculated that it was going to get worse before it got better. The writing was on the wall...the market was going to hell! On top of that, personally, I was losing interest and wasn't finding any motivation or inspiration in the work that I was doing.

I needed a change...

I decided to mix it up a bit. I saw an opportunity and so I decided to take it. I had a personal dream which was to "give it all up" and "travel the world". My job was winding down and I eventually found myself on the phone with American Airlines booking a one year open ended flight around the world.

The plan was to go to South East Asia, India, Eatern Europe, Northern Africa and finally Macchu Pichu in South America before heading back home to San Francisco. I got rid of my apartment, sold my car, put my stuff back into the attic at Mom's house in Oakland and took off. It was an amazing experience just to simplfy my life to a back pack. And then just after a going away party in San Francisco I found myself in the back seat of my buddies car headed for SFO International airport.

The journey itself was amazing. I had the best Vietnamese sandwich of my life from a street stall in Hoi Ann, Vietnam, I studied yoga in an Ashram in Kerela, India, I walked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, I studied Spanish in a small school in Santiago de Chile. I met people from all corners of this amazing planet. I shared stories from San Francisco and heard others from villages in Nepla to shops in Marrakesh. The trip was everything I wanted it to be and more.

I chose to go to these countries for a few reasons. For one, these regions of the planet were cheap! I had to be on some kind of budget if I wasn't going to work for a year. But also because these places are developing countries and they don't speak English. I wanted to go to places like India, laos and Bolivia because they would provide a challenge. I hoped to see things from a different prospective...I wanted a different view of the world. And...I got it. It was an amazing learning experience.

At times it was very difficult...

In Mumbai my life was changed forever.

I went to Mumbai because my good friend Reggie wanted to meet me there. A few days before arriving in Mumbai my friend Reggie emailed me and the subject was "I need a vacation". He said that he wanted to meet me in Mumbai. At the time I was somewhere in the middle of India checking out this national park that I heard a lot about. So the plan for me was to go see the Taj in Agra, Head to Delhi for a night and fly to Mumbai. I got into Bollywood a few days before Reggie and I decided to check the town out. I think Reggie's motivation for meeting me in India was for 2 reasons. One, he did need a vacation and two he wanted to hang with a friend who was feeling a bit of home sickness. Just the week before I got Reggie's email I posted a blog about being home sick and a bit depressed.

So here I was in Mumbai. I was going to do a bit of sightseeing and I wanted to kind of figure out the city before my yupish friend Reggie arrived. HAHAHAH! I wanted to make sure things went smoothly for my buddy. My hotel was right in the middle of Mumbai near all the tourist attractions like The Taj Hotel, Victoria train station and the docks where you launch off to go to Elephant Island. I was walking down a main street coming back from a cool ex pat hang out. I was walking down the street when I noticed off to my left a wide gap between two massive buildings. I noticed two kids running through a hole in the fence. Sometype of advertisment slapped onto a board was hiding the hole in the fence but as the advertisment flapped in the wind I noticed a giant slum behind it. You can see these slums when flying into the city and you heard all sorts of stories about the things that happen there. This make shift town within a town was massive and sprawling all the way back to the next block. But, the sight of this slum wasn't the image that stuck with me. As I continued to walk down the street I noticed a women sitting by the hole in the fence. She was sitting crossed legged, in a torn and dirty purple and gold sari. Shes was filthy dirty and had a desperate look on her face. She sat crossed legged and with one hand she was holding out her hand begging for change. In her other hand, sprawld out across her lap, was her child. The babies arm's were hanging to the side with the head back and eyes rolled deeply back. The baby looked as if it were dead.

At that moment I felt completely helpless...completely powerless. I was a stranger in a strange land and I had no idea what to do. I felt like a coward when I walked away...but what was I supposed to do?

The image of that woman sittting there in her purple sari stayed with me as I continued my travels. I look back from time to time in my personal journal and I notice that I mention how I felt about that day. I can remember how I traveled through this beautiful world how I felt a growing urge to help and give back. I felt powerless and I hated it. As I traveled I wanted to do something...anything..to give back. But what?

After about a year from the time I left San Francisco I found myself in South America. I can remember the day when I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina when my plane left for Peru. I was two weeks away from going home but I knew that it wasn't my time to get back. So, I didn't get on the plane instead I traveled through Argentine and finally made my way to Santiago. It was there in Santiago that I decided to do somehting to give back. My first idea was to volunteer in an orphange somewhere in Latin America. I had met many people that did this all over the world and their stories and photos were very inspiring. I can speciafically remember trekking through Morocco with my great buddy James. He told me a ton of stories about his time volunteering with children in an orphange in Nepla. His black and white photos from his time there were amazing. Eventually, I did some research and found that most of the placements cost money up front and per month. In most cases that money was sent off to a third party or a broker somewhere in the US, England or wherever. That didn't sit well with me.

Eventually I decided to use my time, money and resources and create my own grassroots charitable project. I found Plan USA and I believed that their mission of finding solutions for children in developing countries fit with my own mission. To raise money and awareness for this cause I would do an inspirational event. I would ride a bike from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco, CA and make special stops at Plan offices and to Plan sponsored communties to learn about the problems and issues but more importantly the solutions in regards to children living in poverty. The ride would span 3,500 miles and cross 8 countries including El Salvador which is one of the most dangerou countries in the world. Hopefully by doing this I would be able to draw attention to a cause that I truly believed in. Maybe a few people would listen to a guy that had never been on a rode bike before talk about raising money for kids in Central America.

The goal specifically is to raise $15,000 for a school construction project in a small community near Jalapa, Guatemala. The money would build 2 new classrooms for the 400+ children of the community. The school would provide a space for the children to help realize their dream of a better education. Hopefully this would provide the community an opportunity to help lift themselves out of poverty.

I was even able to make a special stop to this community in Guatemala. The people put on a great show and celebration for the stranger. I was most impressed by a little kid of the community who came up and talked to his fellow classmates. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt with a big ol belt buckle and cowboy boots. He told his classmates to live each day to its fullest, to work hard and to study. He was very courageous!

The bike ride was one of the hardest and most challenging things I have ever done. The first day of the ride was 35 kilometers. I'll never forget the ride out of Panama City on the nic named "Cobra Road". It took around 4 hours to go the 35 kilometes. By the ened of the trip I was racking up 160 kilometer days. I even rode from La Paz, Baja, Mexico to San Diego, California in 12 days. Thats 900 miles in 12 days of pain, push, agongy, and pure beauty. This planet is truly an amazing place. Again...it was the most challenging thig I have ever done...physically, emotionally and spiritually but in the end it was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever completed.

On April 25th I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an amazing experience and something that I will never forget. By the time April 26th rolled around the Last Hill Team raised about $11,000. When I say Team I mean all the friends that volunteered their time and energy to help out with the cause. Like Cyn Garcia who drew up a press release, or Mike Ward who met me in Panama and supported me every step or Erin Alonso who helped throw the party in SF or my good college buddy Evan Thomas who threw another fundraiser in LA. And so many more people!

Now as I write this and reflect back I can see the goal. It's within reach!

Were throwing one last event in San Francisco. A one day special photography exhibit benefit and auction at 111 Minna Gallery on Saturday, September 19th from noon to 6pm. The photography on auction is a collection of 7 photographers who I met on my travels around the world. There work is beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking. By no means are we professionals (or maybe I should speak for myself) but we are passionate about photography and we all care about the cause.

I feel so lucky I can't even begin to explain. I have been extremely fortuante in my life. I have a loving family, supportive friends and have been raised in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. Mostly I have had the opportunity to attend school and I've had the opportunity to get a proper education. traveling has made me appreciate all the beautiful things in life especially opportunities likes these. Travelling has taught me that life is fragile and that there is a totally different reality out there.

I'm doing this because I want to give the same opportunity of education to these children. I'm doing this to hopefully inspire others to help make a positive change in this beautiful and amazing planet that we live in. I'm doing this for the woman in the purple sari who was sitting on the street in Mumbai but I'm also doing this because I wanted to see if a dream can become possible. What I have seen, what I have learned and what I believe is that making a change, having a dream and persuing it with hard work and passion can bring opporunity to those who need it most.

The Last Hill Team is throwing one last event because it is a follow through on a promise made back in January of 09. I made a promise and set a goal of $15,000 to go to building a school for the children of Jalapa, Guatemala. With bit of luck and a ton of hard work we hope to raise the remaining money needed to see this project to the end. If you are reading this I hope you can make it out to the final event of the Last Hill project. It's going to be fun, entertaining and hopefully inspiring.

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

The photographer's...

2009-08-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos!

I hope this email reaches you all in good spirits. I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for you amazing photographs for the 7 Views photo exhibit benefit and auction. It has been an absolute pleasure to see all of your amazing photography. Now that I have all 7 of your photo's I thought it would be a good time to make a proper intro. Below you will find the names of the photographers with web pages and facebook links. If you got a second you should check out each others web pages. This event is going to be amazing and I can't even begin to thank you all for your amazing donations. Its all going to such a great cause and together were going to raise the remaining $4,000 to build this school for the 400 children who live on $2 a day in Guatemala.

Tom Robinson

I met Tom on a slow boat ride on the Mekong river in Laos. Tom and his girlfriend Verity were doing an around the world trip and we were able to spend a few days sightseeing and taking some cool photos together in Northern Laos. Tom and His girlfriend live in London, UK.

http://www.tomrobinsonphotography.com/

Joshua Rapp

My Cousin! My cousin and I had an opportunity to do some travelling together in Germany, Austria, Prague and Slovakia last summer. I think the best time we had together was discovering the beer halls in Bratislava or taking his dog, Adonis, for walks in Munich's main parks. He needs to get a website up ASAP! He's got some great black and white pics from Korea to Germany to small towns in the good ol USA! Josh is a meteorologist for the US Air force and he has just moved to Seoul, Korea.

Wei Hu

Where in the world is Wei??? I met Wei in a cool ass Riad in Morocco. We kicked it a few times in between side trips to the coast or hiking in the Atlas mountain range. Wei was also on an around the world trip. Originally Wei is from Kansas, USA and he pursued his dream to travel around the world. I think Wei is somewhere in Vietnam but his current plans are to set up shop in Shanghai, China before heading back home.

http://www.whereiswei.com/

Brian Kelleher

Brian brings a unique perspective to the show. He has submitted 7 black and white pictures of punk shows from various places. Its a great addition. I can't wait to see the descriptions! Brian and I met in Pai Thailand. Pai is a cool little town in Northern Thailand. Days we spent lounging around by the small river and checking out the various food stalls in this cool little town. Brian, from Ireland, is somewhere in the Australian outback at the moment trying to wait out the economic crises! Good luck!

http://www.gravelbox.net/

Lisa Howard

I also met Lisa in Pai. Lisa, the only woman in our group, brings an exceptional viewpoint to the exhibit. Her pictures are amazing and her passion for adventure and travel really come through on her work. We spend long evenings in Pai trying to get the perfect shot of the bamboo bridge across the river. Lisa, from Australia, is spending some time in New Zealand doing exceptional work for the environment! thanks for the addition Lisa...we appreciate it! Lisa and her partner in crime, Adam, have an amazing web page. Check it out!

http://www.rataphotography.co.nz/

Rishi Oswal

Rishi and I spent a few days hanging out in a small ashram in the state of Kerela, India. He's photo's from his travels in India are passionate and inspiring. He shoots weddings to pay the bills but his love for photography is expressed is in his work. He currently lives in LA but he says he plans on moving to San Francisco soon. Alright...another travel buddy in the Bay! He's also going to try to make the show in September.

http://www.rishio.com/

Aaron Zukoski

My pictures are quite up to yours...you all know my story!

www.lasthillbeforehome.blogspot.com

Cheers!

Aaron

Wei Hu pics a Hella Tight!

2009-08-10T20:05:00.001-07:00

Wei! Wow man! Amazing photo's. Thank you for sending these to me. I really do appreciate it. Where in the heck was that last one taken? Mars? Seriously..that photo is breath taking.

Take a look at Wei's blog here...

http://www.whereiswei.com/

I met Wei in a cool hostel in Morocco. We hared a few laughs, traded some stories from back home and showed off our travel photo's. Wei and I were both on "around the orld" trips but going in opposite directions. At this present time I think he has decided to push back his return to Kansas and is currently living in China. Good choice buddy! Keep going! hahahah!

Thanks for the addition brother!

Aaron

7 Views fundraiser

2009-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Amigos...

Please join the Last Hill Before Home crew on Saturday, September 19th from noon to 6pm at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. The fundraiser event is an international photography exhibit benefit and auction featuring 7 travelers and there amazing photography. The event will also include a poetry reading, cocktail bar and live musical performance. The goal of the event is to raise $4,000 that will go to a school construction project in Jalapa, Guatemala. This particular community is in dire need of a school for the 400+ children. All funds are administered by Plan USA and the school will provide a safe place for the children of Jalapa to learn, grow and realize their dreams of a better future.

We have some exciting news...All the photographers have submitted their photography for the event. You can check out some of their sample work on our facebook event page. The photography is moody, exciting, thought provoking and inspiring. The facebook page also has a ton of information including links to other related articles and organizations.

I hope to see you all there!

http://www.facebook.com/share.php?appid=2344061033&src=box&tid=115940855189&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.time.com%2Ftime%2Fmagazine%2Farticle%2F0%2C9171%2C1909604%2C00.html#/event.php?eid=115940855189

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Rishi..well done brother...

2009-08-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Rishi!!! Thanks for the photographs brother! I really appreciate it.

Rishi Oswal is our latest and last addition to the "7 Views" photography exhibit benefit and auction. His photography is moody, inspirational and breath taking. My favorite photo is the one at the top. Where is that? I can't wait to get the stories behind these pictures. Rishi has spent a lot of time in India and his photo's from the sub continent are amazing. This is going to be a great addition to the event. On top of that...Rishi told me that he is planning to make the event. So cool! It's going to be great to have at least one other photographer there.

i first met Rishi in an Ashram in the state of Kereal in India. Kerela is on the Southern tip of the country at is covered in greenery and an interesting network of beautiful water ways. It was a great place to spent 2 weeks detoxing in a place like that. Rishi and I actually had the same dorm room in the Ashram. He was studying yoga and on his way out. Luckily we were able to hang out for a few afternoons together. He put together this amazing slide show for the ashram. Check out his website here...

http://www.rishio.com/galleries/2009/index.html

Thanks for the addition Rishi!

Aaron

Scary news

2009-08-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Some scary stuff is happening in Guatemala these days. Check out this article if you have a minute or two. I saw this in my cousins Time Magazine this week. After reading this article I come to realize how importnant it is to help provide people, especially children, an opportunity for a better education. We have to take care of our future and it seems these days that there is so many problems when it comes to politics especially when political matters end in violence.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1909604,00.html

Aaron

More pics by Lisa...

2009-07-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

Check out more of Lisa's photography here...

http://www.rataphotography.co.nz/

Aaron

Lisa Howard...I love your pics!

2009-07-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

Photos Courtesy of Lisa Howard

We have another addition to the 7 Views photography exhibit benefit and auction. Lisa Howard thanks for sending me your photos. they're amazing! Her photo's tell a unique story, her keen eye picks up some breath taking shots and all I gotta say is Wow! I can't wait to get these pictures blown up.

I first met Lisa back in late 2007 in a small village in Northern Thailand. Our photography hobby instantly brought us together and a great friendship was born. I can remember our nights of hanging out with friends from all over the world in huts made of bamboo. Those were the good ol days when all we had to worry about was where we would find our next bowl of Pad Thai or where we would take our cameras for the day.

I wrote to Lisa the other day and this was her response..."dabbling in a bit of photography, been teaching film and media at the schools in the next town (somewhere in New Zealand), working as a coordinator for an environmental company helping organize a carbon monitoring project and tonight I'm going searching for endangered snails on the side of a mountain!" Wow...this chick is cool!

Thanks for the pics Lisa...we appreciate it!

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

for more info on the project check out our facebook event...

http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=115940855189

7 Views full flyer

2009-07-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

The flyers are finished! At least we think. Lets go to print...Thanks again for all the hard work Devin. These look very professional!

Check out other work by Devin...

http://www.gummdesign.com/

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

I want a guest speaker!

2009-07-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Aight people...

Here I am at the community in Jalapa, Guatemala giving a speech to the people benefiting from this project. Check out this awesome picture of me in my Plan shirt with my eyes closed! ahahahah! I wish I had another picture. It would have been cool if someone took this from the back of the school so that you could see the 1000 people listening on. I don't really remember what I said during this speech because I was SOOOOOO nervous. But I do remember talking about how the people of Jalapa were very kind, gracious, hard working and had BIG hearts. I told them that education was so important! I promised to work as hard as my Guatemalan brothers and with a lot of work I would be able to convince the good people of San Francisco and beyond to help, pitch in and eventually we will build this school for the children.

So the 7 Views on Saturday, September 19th is going to get here faster than I think. I'm sure I'll have another speech and I promise that I'll try not to be as nervous as the last one!

But...

I'm looking for a guest speaker...

Greg Mortenson you out there?
http://www.gregmortenson.com/

John Wood are you interested?
http://www.roomtoread.org/

Does anyone have any connections to these guys? These are the dream speakers. I'll compile a list...

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

On the Attack...

2009-07-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just emailed...

Professional Photographers of America's charity branch
http://www.ppa.com/community/
http://www.ppa.com/
San Francisco Street Photogrphers group on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=52850385745&ref=search
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=6462482295&ref=ts

Maybe their interested in Sponsoring this event? I'm not looking for any money or anything like that. Instead these like minded people, groups and organizations should jump on board. This will be a great time to promote their events, show support for a worthy cause and in return promote our 7 Views event.

Is anyone out there listening to this???? Maybe someone reading this knows someone with one of these organizations? Myabe you have advice, insight or a suggestion? Maybe you are a part of an organization that would like to help promote this event and help a great cause?

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

I'm looking for groups to co-sponsor the event

2009-07-23T12:23:00.001-07:00

The flyer is coming right along! It's hot...check it out.

Back when I was riding through Mexico I realized that for this event to be successful I need to reach out to like minded groups and organizations. I've been tapping into my social circles of friends and their friends...hard! I love my friends and family and they have given so much of their time, energy, creative know how and of course money. Now I feel that it's time to reach out to other like minded people. I feel that if I can find these people and tell me about this incredible journey than maybe they will be willing to help.

Using the power of this blog and filling it with images and stories has been an incredible tool. I mean...I was able to raise $11,000 for the school construction project in Jalapa and I wasn't even in the United States. That's pretty amazing. Now its time to again use the Blog and put myself in front of these like minded people. But where do I start? How do I find these people? I can't just sit at my house in Oakland and use the force! I gotta get out there...shake some hands...and tell the story of A Man...a Dream...and A Bike...

Where I begin?

How about Facebook?

I was looking at some cool non profit organizations in San Francisco and in the surrounding bay area. I have been extremely interested in the micro finance arena. Basically, Micro finance is connecting entrepreneur people in the developing word to people in the developed world. These companies act as a platform for donations. The one thing that I really like is the fact that it's also a cultural exchange other than just a straight donation. These web pages provide stories from real people in villages from China to Uganda.

The hottest org out there right no is Kiva. I actually applied for a job with them but I guess they didn't feel that my bike ride qualified me for the director of development job! hahahaha! Anyway...I found this other amazing organization called Wokai. They basically do the same thing as Kiva but instead they work with people directly in China when Kiva is all around the world. So...I was doing some research and was really liking what I saw. Eventually I made my way to Kiva's facebook fan page and then Wokai's fan page. From Wokai's fan page I found a link to an affiliate organization called World Affairs Council Young Professionals-San Francisco. It's a big ol name but it sounded interesting. Anyway...I check out the facebook site than their web page and found some seriously interesting stuff.

Basically The World Affairs Council which is based in San Francisco brings guest speakers to the city from all over the world to discuss international topics and issues and then they bring their professional insight into how we can go about to solve the issues. The World Affairs Council has a branch that is geared to Young Professionals. Very Interesting stuff! I found on their web page that they were having a meeting the very next day...so...here it is. This was a perfect opportunity to get out there and see what presumably like minded people are doing.

I got my butt off my couch in Oakland and cruised out to the Young Professionals (IF for short) meeting. The first 3 people I met had done around the world trips, lived in another country or were planning to do some type of charity work in another country! HOME AT LAST! It was such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by like minded people. This was turning out to be some very exciting stuff. The meeting was great. The whole purpose of the night was to bring together volunteers, members and board staff to conduct a steering meeting. We broke off into small groups to discuss upcoming events and talks. I sat in on a brainstorming group The small group was supposed to throw out international topics. Vote on the interesting topics and then from there bring it to the council. If approved a small group of people would turn that idea into a full blown event with guest speakers an all. I like the idea about doing a talk on ho social media was changing the face of communication and persuasion. Very interesting stuff!

Eventually I was able to do a bit of networking and I finally got in touch with the president of IF. I told her that I had an event coming up and that I was looking for co-sponsors. I told her I wanted to contact her and she quickly wrote down her email before continuing her next convo. Well...I email'd her about this wild adventure that I have been on for the almost the past 2 years. I told her about quitting my job, travelling around the world, the bike trip, Plan USA, and eventually the photo exhibit benefit and auction. I got an email response..."Amazing!" from her! Hell ya...I wow'd the president of IF...not bad! hahahah!

So...I moving forward with IF. The president passed my proposal to the board. They voted on it and it looks like they want to be a part of the event. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work...hopefully...IF will bring the peeps to this amazing event so that we can tell a unique story and support children living in poverty in Central America. Fingers crossed!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5252203385#/group.php?gid=5252203385
http://www.wokai.org/
http://www.kiva.org/

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Devin Gumm

2009-07-22T15:23:00.001-07:00

Yo!

Check out Dein's web site if you get a chance. His stuff is sick!

http://www.gummdesign.com/

Thanks agai for all the help with the flyer buddy!

Aaron

The kid in the flyer!

2009-07-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

My last post was about the creation and production of the flyer. I talked about the different ideas that we had and the different roads that we took to get it done. This time I want to talk about the image of the kid. This little guy has become the face of the 7 Views photo auction and benefit for Plan USA.

Above is the original image that I took when I made a visit to a small community near Somoto, Nicargua. And below that is the image of the kid on the flyer that my good buddy Devin put together. Thanks again for all the hard work Devin!

The whole point of the last Hill Before Home was to ride my bike from Panama City, Panama to San Francisco, CA. The entire ride took me 3 months and 7 days to complete. I rode through 8 countries and marked something around 3,500 miles. I wish I knew the exact mileage! I did this to raise awareness and funds for children living in poverty in Central America. My idea was that if I did something inspirational if I did something crazy enough people would pay attention and notice this cause. I teamed up with an organization called Plan USA. The idea of the trip was not only bike from Panama City to San Francisco but to also make special stops along the way. So I made special stops in Nicaragua, El Salvador and eventually Guatemala where the school is going to be built. I took a picture of this kid during one of my visits when visiting a community in Nicaragua.

The day I actually took this picture is a day that I will never forget.

The day started around 6am. The Plan driver picked me up at my hotel and we drove to the Plan office in Somoto, Nicaragua. The office itself was full of plan Staff running around, grabbing some coffee (in Nicaragua they take there coffee black with sugar which I came to love) and looking over their daily assignments. The office was a cool looking home that was converted for commercial use. There were probably around 30 people in their Plan shirts running around. Some staff stays in the office but a lot of the staff was actually headed off to the village's that they help.

I met with Horacio Torres the director of Plan Nicaragua. The day before we all visited a village a few hours from the office and this day we were going to visit another community, this time even further away. I remember being excited to head out to another community and I was excited because I had a chance to go with Horacio...the director..and someone so knowledgeable about the problems and issues and of course the solutions.

So we drove through the hills of Nicaragua over rocky roads and dried river beds. This particular community, because it was so far removed from the town, had even less services, acess to good and because of that was even in a poorer condition than the rest. I think we were something like 30 kilometers from the Honduran border. Plan had been working in this community for some time and because of their work within the community the children had access to a school, bathrooms and a pump for clean water.

Once I got to the community we were greeted by some volunteers and community members. The people in the dusty school room were primarily farmers. There was one teacher and also about 10 or 15 kids. I think all in all there were bout 40 people there. The people of the community were eager to tell Plan about their needs as a community. They also wanted to thank Plan for the help that they have received.

There was one particular moment that hard to take. 3 kids about 9 or 10 years old gave a presentation. They presented two pictures. One picture was of their school as it is now and the next picture was of their school as they wanted it to be. The first picture was dark and dusty looking. The other was full of flowers, had another school on it with a garden and flowers. With all the courage in the room they told the people of the community and they people from Plan that they hoped to get a clean and safe classroom where the snakes couldn't get in. The existing classroom was dangerous, dark and scary they said. I'm sure it took a lot of courage to do that.

Finally, Horacio Torres gave a talk. The idea of the talk was to tell the people of this community that plan was there to help. But Plan wasn't there to give handouts...rather they were there to help these people help themselves. The speech was accepted with nods, smiles and feeling of positivity. It was a great motivational speech and inspiring. The people eventually came up with an action list. The came up with a list of to do's that would help the community to get the clean and safe school with the garden.

During Horacio's talk a small chubby cute little boy with a huge smile walked unknowingly into the meeting. It was in the middle of this serious talk and the kid was laughing and giggling. It gave Horacio an opportunity to tell the people that "this is why we are here...this is why you must work hard...so that your children and your future have the opportunities that they deserve." The kid just ran right through the middle of the meeting and eventually found his mom.

Outside I caught up to his mom and nicely asked if I could snap a quick shot. And there you have it...

Peace, Power and Pedal

Aaron

Story of the flyer

2009-07-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

The story of the flyer...

We've been putting sometime into the flyers these past few weeks. And were proud to get the final product out there.

So Mike has been on my butt these past few weeks to get a flyer produced. He's absolutly right when he tells me that the flyers are key to marketing the event. So many times these past few weeks I wished I had the flyers on me to promote the event. I meet people all the time and usually the conversation turns into..."so..what do you do..." and that's when I usually turn the conversation to Plan, the bike trip and the upcoming photo exhibit.

So I finally got on the ball and I contacted my good buddy Devin Gumm. A few weeks back we were texting and emailing back and forth about the flyers. It was one of the conversations that were full of ideas and "times to meet" but we never put a date to it. Its one of the situations where the meeting between Devin and I would never happen unless we set a firm date.

So Devin calls me about 2 sunday's ago and he is headed to The Park Chalet. The Park Chalet is this cool restaurant and bar in Golden Gate Park. It was a beautiful sunday afternoon and those a re the best times to head to Golden Gate Park. So, kinda on a whim, I decided to drag myself from Oakland to San Francisco to meet up and get some food and a few drinks. On the way out there I called our friend Blake to see if he wanted to kick it as well. So I got Blake, he lives close to Golden Gate Park, and we headed out. This particular Sunday was awesome...the weather was perfect. At PC it was Devin, myself, Blake, Candice (Devin's girlfriend) and Candice's brother and his girlfriend. It was a great time to catch up and kick it.

Eventually we all decided to head back to Devin's place to work on the flyer. It was a perfect opportunity. So Blake, Devin, Candice and I headed back to Devin and Candice's place. It was a great opportunity to get everyone tgether to work on a flyer. Both Blake and Candice have also helped out with this event. Candice a few months back also threw a one day bake sell at the school where she teaches and Blake has been my IT Guru for the 7 Views project. So getting everyone together was a perfect opportunity.

So after a few hours of brainstoming on the flyer and munching on some bomb ribs from Candice's brothers BBQ early that day and Devin doing his magic we came up with this flyer...

It was all a brainstorm and I felt that this image would be a powerful picture. On top of that I had written down a Barack Obama quote the day before. We thought it would be an attention grabbing picture and powerful quote. I felt that it was going in a good direction and everyone else agreed.

So...before Devin put to much time into the flyer I wanted to get a few second opinions. I sent it to Mike and he hated it! hahaahah! Thanks for the honesty Mike...I really appreciate it and I of course value your thought. He didn't like the image, he thought it wasn't properly communicating what we were trying to do plus he didn't like the font. He came up with a great idea to use the last flyer (from the event in April) as a precedent for this flyer. That way we could use the same font and "feel" because we are trying to brand an image. Great suggestion!

I also showed this image to my friend Reggie and Rachelle. They didn't like it as well. They have been a huge support for me lately for this event and beyond. They didn't like the image because it was depressing...and it is! I like to think that its more persuasive than depressing. They suggested something more positive. Rachelle said something like "this entire Last Hill event is about positivity"! Great call Rachelle...that it is! I showed them the image of this guy and we all agreed that we should use this image.

Sorry Devin...back to the drawing board. Devin is a total professional and he has put a lot of time and effort into the last flyer and now he has to start over. So...Devin came up with this new flyer. At first we were going to use the actual iage of the kid. In the original picture he was holding his mom's hand and there people in the background. He said that original picture was too busy so he imposed the image of the kid on a different picture that I gave hime.

He finally finished the flyer and put some text on it. He wrote me an email and attached the picture and said something like "this is PIMP and you know it"!

Hell ya...that looks way better.

So I showed the different, new and imporved picture to a few different people including Mike, Reggie, Rachelle, my mom, sister and cousin who is an artist. They all loved it..BUT...

We loved the image BUT the font and words were all worng. Almost there Devin...sorry buddy we need to make another change. I think by this point Devin was/is getting a bit irratated...sorry buddy!

Finally we got the words right. Cleaned it up and added the Plan USA logo and yes devin this flyer is PIMP and I know it. I'll be super proud to hand this flyer out to people and to slap it all over San Francisco. We have about 7 weeks until the event and were getting excited!

So now we just need to finalize the back of the flyer and get a logo from 111 Minna. 111 Minna has been a bit slow to get back to me so maybe well have to do without their image. Sucks for them really because were promoting their venue for free!

Thanks for ll the help, suggestions and input everyone! This flyer is positive, professional and flashy! Its perfect!

Aaron