Jane Pauley Stops By Thistle Farms

Jane Pauley, best known as a news anchor on The Today Show and Dateline, is also known for being a fan and supporter of Thistle Farms! She stopped by the manufacturing offices today and received a tour from Jordan and spent a little time with the ladies, including Chelle and Demetria pictured below,

and Val and Cynthia.

Jane's daughter, Rickie (also in the photo above) has been volunteering in the Development and Markting department at Magdalene & Thistle Farms.

photos by Julie Cantrell

Facebook Friends: We Need Your Help!

Calling all Thistle Farms Facebook Friends! WE NEED YOUR HELP!

On Saturday, August 7, Lilith Fair - a celebration of women in music - will be performing in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena. The original run of Lilith Fair (from 1997 - 1999) was widely known for its philanthropic commitment, and the return of this fabulous festival is no different.

With the "Choose Your Charity" Facebook Campaign, Magdalene & Thistle Farms is now in the running to receive $1 for each ticket sold to the Nashville show! It's quite an easy process and would love to enlist ALL of our Facebook friends to help with the voting.

In 5 easy steps:

1. Log onto Facebook (and if you're not on Facebook, today's a great day to start!)

2. Become a fan of Lilith Fair by clicking on the "LIKE" button

3. On the Lilith Fair page, click on "Choose Yours"

4. Click on the "Nashville, TN - Aug. 7" button

5. Click on "VOTE" for Magdalene/Thistle Farms (then confirm your vote)

The first round of voting goes until 11:59 PM PST on Monday, May 3, 2010. At that time, the top five charities from each city will move on to a second round of voting and if we make it, we'll be sure to let you know!

If Thistle Farms is picked as the charity of choice, $1 per ticket donated means that there is potentially thousands of dollars to be given to the women that are recovering from lives of abuse, addiction and prostitution. Please consider taking a few moments to vote the next time you're on Facebook.

Thank you for your continued support.... now go vote! :)

Peggy Gets A Place

Thanks to one of our friends of Thistle Farms, Peggy, who graduated last year, has moved from one of the residential houses and into a transitional house. The donor has graciously leased us a home for graduates in transition for the next few years. Students from Montgomery Bell Academy, pictured here, helped with the renovation and gifts of furniture, bedding and appliances were donated by other generous supporters.

We are grateful to all for turning this house into a home!

Show Your Administrative Assistant Your Gratitude with Thistle Farms Products!

Administrative Professionals Day is Wednesday, April 21st. Knowing how much you appreciate your assistants, Thistle Farms would like to facilitate your expression of gratitude.

Though we offer many wonderful bath and body products handmade by the women of Magdalene, if you need a little help deciding what to get the person who assists you everyday, we are offering an attractive gift bag with our liquid hand soap and three bath teas for $24. We’re even happy to set up a sales table in your office for your convenience or make delivery arrangement.

Because all of the money made goes directly back into the program, purchasing our products as gifts is a win/win for the giver, the receiver, and the women of Magdalene.

Email Carole at events@thistlefarms.org or call (615) 298-1140 for more information!

Blessing For New Manufacturing Building

We are giving thanks for our new manufacturing facility for Thistle Farms. The 12,000 square foot building will undergo renovations now and we will be open for business this summer. Recently residents and staff gathered to begin the renovation process with music and prayers of hope.

Prayer from Ali Seville, Student at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School / Thistle Farmer:

Gracious and loving God,

We give you thanks for this day and for the generous and beautiful gift of this building.

As we begin to make this space our home, help us to remember that this building is more than a structure made of wood and stone;
help us to remember that this building represents a community built on a foundation of faith, hope and love.

may the foundation be one that grounds us in faith.
may these walls provide us with steady and enduring hope.
may all those who enter here proclaim their truth in love and
may our doors be always open to those searching for home.

Amen.

From Carole Hagan, full time volunteer / Thistle Farms Events Coordinator:

Loving God, we beseech you to watch over our coming in and our going out so that all who enter here will be of one heart to

serve and be served
heal and be healed
trust and be trusted
forgive and be forgiven
bless and be blessed
not judge and not be judged
offer mercy and be offered mercy
protect and be protected
love and be loved

Make us ever mindful of your presence.
Help us to embrace the knowledge that we are worthy of your love.
Charge us to create a sanctuary for all who seek shelter and bind us in humility with your grace.

While Ali and Carole prayed, Becca mixed our healing oils with water in a bowl with a sprig of boxwood. She then took the sprig and walked around the building and blessed it.

The Vanderbilt Choir provided the gift of song and students from Belmont University also visited recently to break ground on the new Thistle Farms garden.

We are extremely grateful for this gift and are excited to build another portion of our community within its walls.

photos by Carole Hagan

Repost from The Rabbit Press

This week, a lovely piece was written by Lauren Williams on the hip site, The Rabbit Press, which features reviews on art, music, fashion and media. Lauren had a chance to visit the manufacturing building and meet some of the women behind the products. You can read the entire article HERE.

Thank you, Lauren!

Atlanta Concert To Benefit Thistle Farms

Famed local music venue, Eddie’s Attic, in Decatur, GA will host a benefit concert for Magdalene and Thistle Farms on Monday, April 26.

The concert will feature three renowned Nashville singer-songwriters, Mercury Records artist Julie Roberts and Grammy-winning songwriters Don Schlitz and Marcus Hummon.

Singer Julie Roberts is known for the blues-tinged country found in her Top Twenty single, “Break Down Here” as well as her Top 5 Record, “Men and Mascara.”

Don Schlitz’s numerous hit songs include “The Gambler” (Kenny Rogers), “When You Say Nothing At All” (Alison Krauss) and “Forever and Ever, Amen” (Randy Travis).

Marcus Hummon’s multiple hits include the Grammy winning song, “Bless the Broken Road” (Rascal Flatts), “Born to Fly” (Sara Evans) and “Cowboy Take Me Away” (Dixie Chicks).

Atlanta-based Emily Saliers, known as much for her activism as for her part in the acclaimed duo the Indigo Girls, will be joining the ensemble in a guest appearance that night.

Tickets are on sale NOW online at Eddie's Attic or on the 24-hour ticket line, 877-548-3237.

SIFE Students Reign for 5th Consecutive Year as Regional Champions

Congratulations to Belmont University students who returned to Nashville as SIFE USA Regional Champions for the fifth consecutive year after participating in competition in Atlanta on April 6! Magdalene is their community partner.

SIFE is an international non-profit

active on more than 1,400 university campuses in 48 countries.

NOLA Recap

Katrina, Tracey, and I recently went to St. Charles church in New Orleans for a Thistle Farms Salon. We shared our story with a group of women, and learned more about the women who are walking the streets of New Orleans. We also made a lot of new friends. We stayed at Kathy Meunier's home, visited some of the city, bought t-shirts in the quarter, and preached at

Trinity Episcopal Church the next evening. We got to see Rev. Peter Gray at Trinity, who is an old friend of Thistle Farms. He was a student in seminary at Virginia when Cokesbury started selling Thistle Farms Products. He walked into the small store at the seminary and saw the products and ran back to his dorm and emailed all his friends to go and buy our stuff! After they sold out of their first order, the store manager reported the event back to the folks in nashville, and it helped us get more established as a vender with cokesbury. It was fun to see him in his new role as associate rector of Trinity and thank him

in front of his new flock. Katrina and I love traveling together around the country and sharing the good news of love in action. It is a story of hope and it is a very concrete way of feeling like we make a small difference in this big world.

love, becca stevens

Becca, Tracy and Katrina,

Thank you so much for such a wonderful evening at St Charles Ave Pres in New Orleans. You were each, in a special way, a blessing to the women who were there to hear your stories. Your honesty and openness was so refreshing and incredibly healing. It was good to be together and weep and laugh – and we did so because of what you offered.

It was delightful to meet you. I meant it when I said that I really admire and aspire to your level and intensity and passion of ministry. I hope this wasn’t the only time we meet.

Blessings to you and to the women lucky enough to encounter you.

Kelly Hostetler,

Associate Pastor, St Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church