The little things really do count. And so does every single tree you sponsor. You never know how your contribution, even if you feel it is small, can indeed change the world…and by doing so change yourself.

Let me share the story of Takashi Suzuki with you. At the end of 2014, I awoke to a message from Paypal informing me about a new tree Sponsor. This is always an exciting moment since it is the way we fund our community reforestation work. But this time, the message was different. The Sponsor’s name was in a foreign language and a foreign alphabet!

“Hello …

I received your tree sponsorship this am. I must say it was most exciting to see the totally different written alphabet that represents the language of your name… may I ask where are you from? You will be the first person from your country I do believe to sponsor a tree! This gives me hope that what we are doing is getting out into the world. It has been very hard to create a carbon consciousness movement but all of a sudden, I see more and more people waking up and actually doing something to reduce and offset their carbon footprints. One way to do that is by sponsoring a tree. Thank you ever so much. Your tree is already planted in Finca Asdrual Planting Season 2014. We are updating our website this weekend and I am glad to say that new photos will be posted in the planting gallery. This way you can see all of the growth of your tree and the Costa Rican workers who are tending it. We depend on our Sponsors to help us keep paying our workers to plant and care for the trees… it is a global communal effort and YOU are now a part of it. THANK YOU.  Sincerely, JENNY P.S. PLEASE Share us with your friends!!! We have Facebook too!”

Just hours later, I received the following reply…

“I’m from Japan. I’m surprised that I’m the first japanese person who sponsor a tree. Global environmental problems have been getting worth. If nothing is done, this world is doomed to distraction…..maybe it’s too late. I’d like to see the world where humanity and nature coexist harmoniously. That’s why I decided to sponsor a tree. I want to plant more trees, so I will donate my money to your organization soon.”

Oh wow, I exclaimed,  “now we have a person in Japan who has sponsored a tree. And says he will sponsor more…” My heart swelled as I wrote back.

“Thank you for your thoughtful response. Yes, many people are shocked to learn that we are not receiving a lot of tree sponsorships each day. IN fact, quite the opposite, we are still struggling to get the word out about our work and how much it helps the planet, animals and people on so many multiple levels. It is about way more than just absorbing extra CO2. In emerging economies, especially those near the Equator, like Costa Rica, we have to find reasons to convince people living near vulnerable rainforest not to cut it down. Experience has taught us that creating dignified tree planting jobs can transform lifetime cattle farmers into conservationists with sustainable rainforest business opportunities. It is good. We do see progress as we plant more trees with more participating families.

And we also see progress because YOU, Takashi Suzuki, found us. And YOU Takashi took that extra step and reviewed our work, believed in us and gave us $25 of your hard earned money. Yes! First person from Japan. It only takes a spark to get a fire going…Thank you again…Jenny”

I thought that was the end of my correspondence with Takashi. But the next morning, I awoke and found the next email from Takashi.

“I’ve just realized that I made a mistake in my previous message. Global environmental problems have been getting worse. Not “getting worth.” I’m sorry for a stupid mistake.  I made another donation. I hope it can help you and your community. By the way, Jenny is an energetic woman. Why do I know? Because I watched her YouTube channel. I wish I could be like that. I’m a weak person. Maybe I can’t change the world, but I wish that I can make difference. Thank you. Takashi”

I was humbled by Takashi’s second donation and inspired to work ever harder to always deserve the trust of special people like Takashi… so I wrote back again…

“Hello Takashi,

This is Jenny again! Thank You. Believe me, YOU are making a difference Takashi. Your two trees will grow and capture over 2 tons of CO2 just for starters. Your two trees add up with the trees of so many other Sponsors from around the globe to grow new biodiverse forests on dead deforested land owned by Costa Rican cattle farmers struggling to survive. I think you are strong and compassionate for being able to donate money because not everyone can or will do that. I believe we all have our very special role to play… our own mission in life. It does not have to be a huge one. We are lucky if we can find something important to us that serves others. I feel lucky that I get to do what I do. Not everyone can or even wants to do the “jumping around” and getting dirty and sweaty Jenny part! So, feel good about what YOU do and let’s both keep doing our unique parts. We need each other. All of us are in this together. You are wonderful TAKASHI. YOU MADE MY DAY! THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!Have an awesome day! JENNYWE LOVE TREES!”

All this letter writing happened on Friday. After a long weekend of continued website update and revisions, I awoke Monday morning to another encouraging Takashi tree sponsorship and message!

“Hello! I donated my money again. I think this time was the third time for me to a sponsor tree. I noticed that my name was disappeared from Sponsors Gallery. What happened? Is there a problem in my transaction? I checked my paypal account. It said that my transaction was completed. I hope there’s no problem. Or…maybe you don’t like me. That’s fine. Thank you. Takashi”

Now it was my turn again.

“Hey Takashi!!

Thank you so much tree friend! I woke up about 30 minutes ago and saw your third donation! Thank you!! Yes, Takashi we love you! In fact, we love your Sponsor Gallery postings! Yes, you are changing the world one tree at a time. Not sure if you noticed but we are updating our website to Mobile friendly! We also noticed that between Friday and today, the online Sponsor Gallery dropped whoever donated at the end of week. We contacted our web wizard and he is repairing this today! It should all be back up by tonight. IN the meantime, YOU, Takashi are my favorite sponsor on the planet right now! I cannot believe you sponsored another tree!! First time this has ever happened!

I would love to write my very first new blog article about our experience back and forth? Is that ok?? Would you mind a picture of yourself? If not I put some other picture! You are so special! Blessings from Costa Rica on a sunny morning! Jenny”

So Takashi writes back one more time…

“I know that you changed your webpage design, so I assumed that your website had some problems when my name was disappeared from Sponsors Gallery. I hope your website will be fixed soon.  To tell you the truth, I’m happy to be able to make donation to your organization. I do not care if my name was disappeared or not. What I was worried is that you could receive my donation. That’s why I sent a message to you. It seems that our transaction are fine. Please take care of trees. Thank you! Takashi”

My turn: “Yes Takashi, Our transactions are fine! We received all three sponsorships… And I loved your testimonial in the Sponsor Gallery. We will make sure all the comments are posted. Yesterday, I went to see your trees on Finca Asdrual with the workers who recently cleaned them. These trees were planted in July and have been tended twice this year. So far we only found 5 dead trees out of 750 planted and we already replaced them.  I’ll be posting all these pictures in the planting gallery this week. So go check it out!! Yipppeee we love trees! Pura vida, Jenny”

And Takashi replies…

“I’m really looking forward to see pictures!! What kind of tree are you going to plant in July? I don’t know about tree…so even if you tell me tree’s name, I can’t understand. Maybe I should study about botany.

I respect your job because planting tree looks very difficult. Have a nice day!”

This kind of interchange with our tree Sponsors is a wonderful occurrence. It means so much to us that someone in Japan found us and took the time to write us! When we see how much people actually care that their trees are being maintained and loved long-term,  it also lightens the load. It feels good  when people thank us and congratulate us and recognize how hard our work is. Three donations almost in five days from someone clear across the planet who we do not even know is such a strong stroke of encouragement for our entire hard-working team.  Thank you Takashi, You are changing the world with your example of how much the little things count!

Until next time… Reap what you sow. We love trees!