My name is Rebecca Goldsmith and I am the owner of Desert Diamond Crochet.  I started my handmade business in 2008 by making things for co-workers and my daughter who at that time was 11 years old.

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I began designing my own crochet patterns and selling them in 2010.  I published my first book "Crochet Hatimals - Creatures with Features" in April 2013 and my second book "Crochet Bootimals - Barnyard Buddies" was published in August 2016.

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I served active duty Air Force from October 1995 - August 2002.  I did tours in both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  I was supposed to leave active duty in October 2001 when September 11th occurred.  I was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.  I went to work that day in my service dress uniform to meet an NCO of the Quarter board when the first plane hit the tower.  We all thought it was just an accident and went on our daily business but when the second plane hit, everyone got quiet.  You could hear a pin drop in our office area.  We immediately turned on the TVs and began to watch the events unfold dumbfounded by what we were all seeing.  The base got locked down and we were all put on alert.  When the plane hit the Pentagon, we were expecting to be deployed just a couple hours up the road to assist.  I sent all my airmen that lived on base home to change out of the service dress uniforms and put on their BDUs (camo uniforms) and come back where we all awaited to see what happened next.  It was a terrible day.  The call to go assist the Pentagon never came though many of us volunteered to go.  We were not allowed to go up and assist.  We were devastated but understood.

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I now serve the military in a different capacity.  I have been a DoD contractor since 2003 working for organizations such as the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corp, Army, FBI, and NGA.  I love the jobs I have had and am proud that I can still support our military members in a civilian capacity.

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One of my goals with Desert Diamond Crochet was to grow the business to a point where I could help others in need.  My future goal is to start my own 501(c) non-profit organization but I am unable to do that just yet.  With the nature of my job and the short contract lengths of employment (1-2 year contracts), I tend to move a lot so I need to wait to start my 501 until I can safely secure the headquarters in one spot and not move it around all the time.

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For the past few years I have been trying to think about a focus for the 501 and how it can fill gaps to help people who need immediate assistance while waiting for the appropriate systems to catch up.

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When I lived in Colorado from 2011 - 2013, we had two wildfires that took many homes 2 years in a row.  The Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012 and the Black Forest Fire in 2013.  I started my very first fundraising give back campaign in 2013 where I found two families that lost everything and raised money to help them get things they needed to get back to normal sooner than later.  The first family asked for a refrigerator and the second family asked for a computer.  Fundraising goals were met and both families received the items they requested.

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In honor of all the fireman I designed a fireman teddy bear that I wanted to make and donate to the firehouses to hand out to the kids and I was turned away by every firehouse.  I never understood why and I was quite hurt by the fact I was being turned away so I began to think harder about what direction my charity would take in the future.

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Move forward to today - November 2016 where I meet Sal Randazzo.  Here is a man who needs help.  He is doing all the things he needs to do but the system is slow.  Did you know that it can take up to 2 years to get a disability hearing and then only a few get approved the first time and you have to go through an appeals process?  Sal filed for disability in October 2014 and it has been over 2 years and he is still waiting!  That is unacceptable.  In the meantime, his wife left him and left him with all the bills, no income, and he is forced to sell everything he owns because the system is to slow.  This is a man that deserves better than that!  Nobody should have to lose everything because the legal system is to slow.  I think I am finding a direction for my future charity in which a gap exists for those needing immediate assistance.

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We are not asking a lot.  Please donate and help this man sell his home, keep his utilities on, and help him get to his doctor appointments that he needs to attend in order to heal as best he can.