WE DID IT!

This blog post will be short and sweet- maybe the sweetest so far.
WE DID IT! YOU DID IT!

We've met the minimum requirement of the DMV & General Assembly to collect 450 applications and plate fees for a new plate to pass. SERIOUSLY!

The last time I updated, we only needed 6 more. I went on vacation last week and hoped to come home to those last 6 applications, because wouldn't that be worth coming home and ending a vacation for? ;) I was even happier to see one more than we needed, plus I got a couple of emails while I was gone which included that elusive vehicle info that I still need to complete some of the applications.

I will be at several events this fall to continue collecting applications and I'm hoping to get our number closer to 500 (or more?), since I think that'll help show that more than just the bare minimum of people are interested in the plates.

Happy, happy, happy weekend to you all! Now I'm heading out for a wedding this weekend, but I'll BEE in touch soon.

Cheers!!

The most FABULOUS of the FABULOUS

..... are each and every one of YOU who has helped to support this "Protect Pollinators" license plate! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Whether you helped by submitting an application, or you helped to spread the word- I owe you all a huge THANKS.

If you check out the ticker over on the right, you'll see (as of today) that it's been updated to 439. I had to check and double check that number because it seemed too good to be true; but yes, it is! We are only 11 applications away from the required 450 and I couldn't be happier.

I'm not trying to count my chickens before they hatch. We are so close now, and this is totally within reach. But I know we still have a long way to go before we actually get the plates.

I have about 60 applications from various events that are missing vehicle info- some folks didn't have their car at the event, or had to park far away, but still wanted to sign up and support the project- yay! So I've been in touch, and am just waiting for the missing pieces there.

I also plan to keep on collecting applications well past 450, at least until the bill is introduced in January, because wouldn't the General Assembly just love to hear that we went well beyond the required 450? And that people really, REALLY want to show support for pollinators with these plates? I look at applications beyond 450 as insurance.

Saturday at the National Honey Bee Day Festival at Norfolk Botanic Gardens, after telling someone I've been working on this for 3 years, he asked, "What's your motivation?" ...Besides thinking it would be really cool to have my artwork on a license plate (because that as motivation fizzled long, long ago....) I told him my motivation was the pollinators. I wanted to do something to help bring more awareness to them. I'm a graphic artist, so how could my art help out the pollinators? How can we get the message out there? All these other wildlife groups have special license plates; pollinators are important, so they should absolutely have one, too. After getting the first 50 or so people to sign up for plates, I had additional motivation: I now owed it to everyone supporting this to see this through to completion.

So thanks to you, for keeping me motivated, and very soon, for helping to put pollinators on that big display board of license plates at the DMV!