Isaac 1/2014, Helena MT

I was honored to have received this HonorCoin from my friend/mentor/hero and president of HonorWorks,

Swil Kanim, for my seeing the honor and gifts in young musicians in my community by supporting/mentoring and befriending them through their performances and promoting their talents through social networking and personal promotion. 
This coin was presented to me at the HonorWorks offices in Bellingham, WA alongside one of the young musicians and friends I have been collaborating with for the past 3 years. 
It was a remarkable experience receiving the coin and made me pretty emotional.  Thank YOU!  When I returned home to Montana, I signed up and became an official HonorCoin member of HonorWorks.

I will continue to honor the talents of those around me and I thank you for honoring me with  this coin and your presence in my life! Thank you HonorWorks for everything you are doing.  :)     

Seth M - March 2015 - Bellingham, WA

I was presented with an an Honor Coin as part of being selected as The 2014 Community Food Co-op Cooperator award recipient. It was an honor to be recognized by my coworkers and my fellow Member Affairs Committee members.

From the article that appeared in the newsletter:

His strong belief in the Co-op’s mission and values supports his eagerness to help out. This is evident in his willingness to pitch in with whatever events or volunteer opportunities arise. Seth recently said he is motivated to volunteer because the Co-op is a perfect venue, offering many opportunities to get involved. It’s no surprise he was nominated for this award, and I’m happy to see him recognized.  Besides being a wonderful cashier and a reliable store supervisor, Seth helps out the Co-op and community in many different ways. He represents staff internally on both the Safety committee and the Staff Council, where his contributions are much appreciated. Seth has been on the Member Affairs Committee since 2012, and he really enjoys being able to give back so much through the grants the committee appropriates. As he said, “On my own I would never be able to do that, but the NCGA’s (National Cooperative Grocer Association) motto holds true in that we are ‘Stronger Together.’” The outreach team knows they can count on Seth to help with just about every event they host. He is happy doing informational tabling, spreading 
information about Co-op membership, or pitching in with the grunt work of setting up and breaking down events. 
In the community, Seth takes advantage of the volunteer projects the Co-op partners in, most recently with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association to help restore a section of Padden Creek by tackling blackberries, 
planting, and mulching. Not an easy project on a cold rainy day.
Thanks for all you do Seth. I feel fortunate to be able to work with you and benefit from your enthusiasm for 
the Co-op and our community. Be sure to congratulate Seth when you see him, either at the Cordata store or at the next Co-op event. Look for the guy with the styling moustache!From Seth’s nomination form: So positive about the Co-op, the members, and participates in so many Co-op events. Serves on the MAC committee, can’t imagine the Co-op without Seth. He’s the best and deserves to be honored for his great work.  From Seth’s co-workers:  Seth is creatively helpful. He always makes me smile.I really appreciate the way Seth is willing to step up and help with Co-op 
events and other outreach projects. He has been an invaluable resource and great to work with! Thank you, Seth!
Seth seems to be always upbeat, helpful, and engaged. When I’ve asked for his help, he’s eager to contribute and a pleasure to work with. He definitely makes me feel at home here in the store.  Seth is always one of those faces you see at all things Co-op. He is always stepping up to work at Co-op community events, volunteer work parties, he comes to cheer on his co-workers at Co-op soccer games, he never even misses a Co-op safety committee meeting! One word to describe Seth—
DEDICATION.
Seth embodies the community concept. He is engaged in so many of the Co-op’s doings. I’ve worked alongside him at several staff volunteer work projects—he brings an exceptional attitude to everything 
he is involved in.

S&J - 7/2015 - Spokane, WA

I met this angel during the week of my daughter's wedding. She is a neighbor that jumped in & made magic! We presented an honorcoin for all she did that week. But she fights much bigger battles in life & does so gracefully, so I thought I'd share one of her blogs so all can see what an incredible woman she is : LAURIEA MICHELS <3

Feb 29th we approach Maddie's 8th (2nd) Birthday. 
Now far enough away from her birth I can now share the hell that we went though.
Started off excited to be adding another child to our life. 
We headed out to our first midwife appointment that went just fine. She want to get a firm due date so she scheduled a ultrasound. We went knowing I was 9-10 weeks along. The tech gauged us at 6 weeks. (told her she was wrong) Tech was unwilling to listen so I called my midwife. She suggested we planed a repeat ultrasound in a few weeks. At what I knew to be 29 weeks along we went back in for our repeat ultrasound. A different tech tells us we are 20 weeks along and have a high powered mover in there. We also found out we are having a girl without her asking us if we want to know or not. I again told her that she was wrong and that her measurements were wrong. I was told my dates were off. A week later I was in a car accident and my car totaled. Went strait into see my midwife and she sent me right off to the hospital for testing. Did a stress test Baby & I cleared that fine. Talking to the nurse about the past weeks of pregnancy and why I did not want another ultrasound cuz the techs are just idiots and have no idea what they are talking about. And the new Head Tech that speaks very little English is even worse. The nurse suggests that I do an amniocenteses to get 100% accuracy which we could easily do with the Ultrasound check to make sure the baby was ok and that were no bleeds. I laughed at her at the time since I was bleeding. The thought of this big o needle being stuck into me to figure all the out a nerved me more than there dates being wrong. After talking it over with the midwife I did agree to it. It would be 2 agonizing before we hear anything. Ultrasound that day resulted in her being even smaller that what they measured a few day prior (19 weeks) I lost it and told them they were all crazy and to get my release papers I was done with them. Gavin helped the along with my request. Got home and wrote a letter to the hospital board asking them to review their head techs knowledge & certification cuz babies don't shrink.
Two weeks go by and the head tech calls us & wants to see us for a 2 hr appointment. We go in and the appoint starts out with another ultrasound with minimal fluids on board. We see the baby , the heart beating, and all the cute pics that only a mom can figure out what pic is of what part of the baby's body. Then we go into his office to talk. He starts outwith that we defiantly have a girl @ 21 weeks gestation. I'm already starting to tune him out. Then he say " Your baby is incompatible with life and has Turners Syndrome. I have scheduled you for a DNC in the morning. (Now I am Mad) (nice terms of'course) Tons of questions come out of my mouth & Gavin's as well. We were told she was so severely deformed that she will die in the next few weeks and we should spare her the pain. That she had holes in her heart. fused web neck, U shaped kidneys, fluided on the lungs (not possible in utero) soft bones in her legs that she has already fractured. Too small in stature and to large of a head that has extreme swelling on it. Then he said if she happened to make it to term she would not make it though the birth she was too weak & to fragile. These kind of babies were just not meant to be born. He then said we need to make arraignments for our others kids and come back and check into the hospital for surgery. Gavin & I had had enough of this doc. We told him we would be going home and that we would not be back tonight that we need to talk about this. He said he need to have an answer later that night or before 9 am so he could get on the surgery doc. Then he wanted to tell us just what the surgery would be like. I got up and walked out. When a doctor tells you this.You find yourself in the depths of despair and desperate for a miracle. 
Faced with the possibility of never holding the baby you’ve carried, loved and cherished inside you , your soul is rocked to its very core. I'm not even sure how we got home. I cried the whole way there. I think I was also driving. IDK but now it is a total blank. I jump on the phone and computer trying to find out more. (don't look on the computer it makes it worse) We talked we cried but we made our decision NOT to go forward with the termination. My body was doing all the hard work of sustaining life for her I saw nothing in the pic that showed all the problems he was talking about. (And yes after having 11 children I can read & understand the ultrasounds.) We call the midwife and told her our decision. Not wanting to deal with the Head Ultrasound Tech we asked that she call and tell him our decision. She did. Then the phone calls started This jerk of a doc started hounding us with phone calls, send us emails & pic of the worse case scenarios. Trying everything he could to get us to change our mind. My stubborn mind and mouth took over. Gavin realized how stressed I was becoming & got us out of the house taking us to dinner and a bit of a drive. When we got home the phones were unplugged & got the kid ready for bed. We talked some more & went to bed happy with our decision. We had an appointment the next day with the midwife. She brought things back to ground zero and backed us fully on our decision. She got us in touch with a genetics counselor so we could prepare for what would come next . Sitting down with a genetics counselor we had a much clear idea of what was really going on with our daughter. From the scans that she saw our daughter heart was fine so were the kidney's. Webbing & swelling were still on the plate. She wanted more detailed photo's so back in we went dealing with the ass of a doc again who9 tried toi scare us again who I then yelled at and told him not to touch me & to get out of my room and never come back. Nurses came running into the room I knew I was serious. they got a different tech in and tried to save face. My daughter faced unexpected, unknown challenges before her birth. I now had to fight for every inch of her life not knowing what the out come would be. From that point on I refused to do any more tests no matter what they were. There was a lot of second guessing going on in my brain & I can only guess of what my husband is thinking at this point. But I know he still has my back. The only appointments I went to from that point on was the dentist & midwife. I look forward to a better future by getting all the things she needed and creating her baby room. Friends offered little comfort and I felt very lone. Surrounded by “what-ifs” and a lot of uncertainty. My only true peace was when I was out running listening to my music. The occasional uplifting word from my running friends that were not fully apprised of the situation. Our Daughter birth was was a bit of a surprise to the docs that had not adjusted her due date. According to them I was not due till April 25 th . But when I went into Labor Feb 29th I suddenly remember I thought the dates were wrong. Got on my computer and quickly recalculated when I thought my last period was. Bingo she was coming on her due date. All the “what-ifs” started playing in my head. I deiced to lay down after drinking a glass of water to see if this was the real thing or not.
I was watching Tv keeping track of the contractions. The next thing I knew. I popped awake from the hard full-blown contraction Gavin quickly called the midwife who came right over . The kids were still asleep taking their naps After what seemed like a one minute assessment she just said what would be comfortable to you. I was in the tub at the time. She helped me up and just as I got out of the tub gravity took over and she was crown I was only at 8cm at this point. Gavin got right behind me to help me to the bedroom and I could not move. We have her right there on the bathroom floor. Hearing her initial cry was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. At that moment, I felt a sense of gratitude wash over me that I had never quite experienced. I wanted to weep and laugh all at once. It was melodic and magnificent. My husbands reassurance said it all " she alive & beautiful " After all that Gavin helped me to the bedroom got me all comfy. The midwife checked our a daughter. Great apgar score of 9. With no need to go to the hospital. We had a perfect daughter with Turner Syndrome that beat all the odds. And what happen to that nasty Head ultrasound tech you ask.?... Well that Tiny and Sweet Powerhouse of a girl that made it got him fired. For all the harassment, worry & all the non things that she did not have wrong with her. For our wish was for this not to happen to anyone else under any circumstances.

Bruce - July 2014 - Bellingham, WA

I had lost a significant relationship and something very hurtful happened after it ended. I had been in a very low and sad place processing the loss. When this hurtful situation arose I shifted from a place of pain and vulnerability to a place of power and strength. I realized that I would not let anybody's action or words inflict pain in my heart. I realized it was up to me to protect my heart. I became angry and my anger provided me with new expectations. I expected that a person who said they loved me would not strike heart. So, I did not allow their actions to inflict injury. I realized that what I was doing was paying honor to my heart. I have never felt so secure and in control. As this awareness pervaded my being, I began to realize that honor is not about duels, not about ego or recognition, but honor about respecting yourself and others and not allowing disrespect to be ignored. I honored my heart.