Giving Back

Our current Head Regal spotlight giveback project is a collaboration between Head Regal, teacher and advocate, Bailey Dann and friends poet Tyler Knott Gregson and his partner and wife, Sarah Linden Gregson. In my opinion, it is with seeds of kindness, watered with care over time that make the truest of collaborations grow… We are all connected, all we have to do is connect the dots.

I first came into contact with Bailey last Christmas when she put her name in for a blanket giveaway for her husband, Jose. She explained that they were both teachers at Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy on the Shoshone Bannock Tribes Fort Hall Reservation in Fort Hall, Idaho. His van had been broken into and she was hoping that the blanket would bring him some cheer. She had found Head Regal’s Instagram through Tyler Knott Gregson’s Instagram feed but could not afford the blanket on her teacher’s salary. She ended up receiving the giveaway blanket, but as we spoke more, I knew we had to get some blankets over to those kids… There were 90 kids at their school, so we put the idea on the backburner.

Flash forward to August, when I was sitting in Westlake Village having coffee and eggs with Sarah and Tyler. (It is so odd to think that that was only the second time ever meeting in person after basically eight years of close friendship and collaboration.) I told them about Bailey, how she had found me through Tyler’s Instagram feed and about the kids on the reservation and they simply said, yes… Whatever you need let’s do it. So we thought that Thanksgiving would be an appropriate time to come together and spotlight these kids, and the wonderful work Bailey and her husband were doing.

Inspired by Bailey’s determination to create a safe space for learning, Head Regal will donate a “calm down” blanket for each of the reservations’ classrooms. Bailey explained that this time of the changing of the seasons is celebrated with ceremony where they harvest to winter. It is a time when the Earth goes to sleep and their stories come alive. She says, “The story is of love and comfort in the face of adversity.” I asked her how she deals with hate and her answer was, “I like to call people in, not out.”

To date she has collected over 20 boxes of clothing and over 729 books to develop a school library in addition to the clothing bank which serves over 90 families. Contact Bailey directly if you would like to find out more information on how to help, see below for details.

Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy
ATTN: Bailey Dann
34 S., Hi-Line Rd
Pocatello, ID 83202

http://www.baileydann.com/newe-educator/2019/11/22/how-we-started-a-clothing-bank-and-library-at-our-school

Bailey’s Instagram: @baileydann

http://www.chasersofthelight.com
Instagrams: @TylerKnott @SarahLinden

Tyler Knott Gregson is a poet, photographer, artist, and author of the nationally bestselling Chasers of the Light, All the Words Are Yours, Wildly into the Dark, the children’s book North Pole Ninjas co-written by Sarah Linden Gregson, and the recently released Miracle in the Mundane.

When he’s not writing, he operates Chasers of the Light Photography, and photographs weddings and travel all over the globe with his wife, Sarah Linden Gregson.

They inspire me and thousands to love, be kind and keep a sense of humor in life! Every Head Regal blanket has one of Tyler’s poems sewn into the seams.

xo
Amber, Noah + Lala

This picture above, is of my grandma, 93, and me holding hands. She is the matriarch of our family and when she speaks, we listen. Two codes of many wonderful codes that she and my papa live by are (1) truth is friendly, and (2) never give up on people. If you have been lucky enough to have your life touched by these two beams of light, then you just know how deep that runs. The happiest I’ve ever seen them is when they are witness to human kindness and they continue to inspire me.

Our family has experienced untimely heartache and loss. The give-back nature of Head Regal is always in honor of my little brother Gregg, who died at 19 years old after a rogue wave knocked him into violent waters off of the coast of Hilo, Hawaii. It is my belief that we carry our lost loved ones in our hearts and honor them by living life to the fullest with love and kindness.

See below for other charitable hearts and organizations HR has supported or collaborated with.

LAST CHANCE CORRAL

TO DONATE DIRECTLY AND FIND MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT:
http://lastchancecorral.org

Please support born to die, a documentary in-the-making by my dear friend and mentor ,Sue Morrow, in support of these nurse mare foals and the last chance corral. It is truly remarkable work.

“This documentary will reveal the cruel secret that some in the various equine breeding industries don’t like to acknowledge or talk about: Every year during breeding season, hours-old, non-pedigreed foals are taken from their mothers, whose job is to be a nurse mare to a pedigree foal.

This cycle continues, over and over. The foals with championship potential are nourished by nurse mare’s milk critical to the health and survival of a baby horse. But what happens to the non-pedigreed and discarded foals? Many are left to die. But since 1991, about 150 foals every year have been lucky enough to be rescued by the Last Chance Corral in Athens, Ohio during foaling season every January through June.”