This is Honey.
She's a cute little cat sculpted by one of our employees right before the coronavirus got crazy around here.
And she seemed like a fitting little beacon of light to share at the moment.
Go ahead, let your shoulders relax for just a moment in the glow of the hotshop. <breathe in; breathe out> Nice, isn't it? We give you full permission to bask in the imagined glow for a while. We do. <smile>
Some of you may know that in 2018 we instituted a program we call Pumpkins with Purpose, through which we donate a portion of blown-glass pumpkin sales to a nonprofit (currently Shatterproof). Some of you may know that we donate a portion of proceeds from our annual Make Your Own Ornament Extravaganza to support arts and creativity at our neighborhood schools (Boys School of Denver, Brown International Academy). Some of you may have heard about us on Colorado Public Radio, a local news source we are delighted to support through underwriting (another kind of giving for businesses like ours).
Some of you may also know that we celebrated our 4th anniversary in business as The Furnace just two weeks ago. (S'okay if that anniversary slipped right by you; we kinda forgot about it too!)
Because I was curious (and a little stressed about the money situation while reading the news) I thought I'd take a look at our donations over these last four years in business. And y'know what? We've donated almost $10K to those organizations! Almost all of that has been in the last two years.
In the grand scheme of ... things ... that may not be a huge amount of money. When I look at the "spare" cash we have right now, though, it feels like a lot. A lot of money that would be a welcome cushion to get us through the coming economic storm.
Even though that cash isn't in our pocket right now, it makes me feel a bit warm and fuzzy to know that we've helped facilitate some wonderful things out there in the world beyond our doors.
At this moment, when we're staying home for the health of everyone, that's definitely a ray of light. We look forward to being in business for another four years, and to giving back to our community. Thanks in advance for your support!
