Today I was honored to deliver a rainbow tree to the Equality House in Topeka, Kansas, with my daughter and her Girl Scout Troop. We spent the day soldering and learning to use the FastLED library to bring more light and color into the world.
Thank you to Daniel and Mark for creating this library, sharing your genius and inspiration, and starting this community. Thank you to everyone in this community for sharing your inspiring works, and for all of the help and inspiration I’ve received. Without you all, there’s no way this would have been possible.
The Equality House is a symbol of compassion, peace, and positive change. The house, which is painted the colors of the Pride flag, serves as the resource center for all Planting Peace human rights and bully prevention initiatives and stands as a visual reminder of our commitment, as global citizens, to equality for all.
The house is located in Topeka, Kansas directly across from the Westboro Baptist Church hate group.
I love this on every level imaginable! If you don’t mind my asking how old is your daughter’s troop? My daughter is in her second year of Daisies and I’ve been a bit disappointed in the activities being 100% “girly stuff” like painting picture frames and making mason “wish” jars and pretend sleepovers etc… it’s so great that you are teaching them skills that people so often assume girls won’t like (or can’t do ). I’m also so excited to know about this organization! I’ve been interested in donating more to places that serve the middle of America. It’s all too easy to focus giving on charities that directly serve the community I live in, or very broad global ones. Glad to know about this cheerful place!
Btw- my tree v2 is almost complete- it’s really mind boggling how long it takes to wire the pixels to the branches!!!
@Charity_Stolarz Thank you! Not at all, they are 13 and 14 year olds. Most of the troop has been together since kindergarten. We’re good friends with the troop leaders, who are amazing. They have done a lot of “girly” stuff, but take every chance they get for STEAM and charity activities. I volunteered to lead this activity. I’ve wanted to do something similar for a long time, like Adafruit wearable LED projects they get to keep. I hope to do more with them soon. Do you know if your troop leaders would be open to it if you volunteered time and/or resources?
That’s fantastic, I’m glad I could help bring even a tiny bit more attention to Planting Peace and the Equality House!
I can’t wait to see your tree! I know all too well, I’ve already built two trees and will be building a third as soon as the LEDs come in. They’ve been stuck in a backlogged warehouse for two weeks. I’ve started thinking about alternate, easier arrangements, like just a simple spiral/helix. Maybe next year.
@Jason_Coon Yes I led a gardening activity last year. The girls are still so little (6ish) so I can’t exactly get them into soldering just yet. But I may try a snap circuits session or have them make some throwies this year.
We had a little snow storm which is impeding my progress on the outside trees. I decided to scrap the 3D mapping since my gnarly cypresses won’t really accommodate the set up and I’d have to do a lot of extra mapping for the extra LEDs. But I got a mini version working and it’s beautiful. My kids played with it for an hour before bedtime last night and it never froze up
). I’m also so excited to know about this organization! I’ve been interested in donating more to places that serve the middle of America. It’s all too easy to focus giving on charities that directly serve the community I live in, or very broad global ones. Glad to know about this cheerful place!
Do you know if your troop leaders would be open to it if you volunteered time and/or resources?