If you are moved by Jozef’s lived life’s experience, grab a water bottle and get outdoors. Water a tree, plant or tend it (those in the arid west do better with bark chip mulch), or take a hike to a wildfire tower lookout. Listen to an elder’s stories, fix something that needs fixing, steward a historic building, or play some music with friends. As a way of connecting with Joe, ask his friends about caring for a “guerilla forest” of saplings in Spokane that will need watering, more seedlings, and TLC over the next decades before they are mature enough to sequester carbon and offer quiet shade. Many of Joe’s treasures were vintage, such as his mom’s Jansport frame backpack, a historic reproduction Montreal Canadiens ice hockey jersey gifted by his dad, his maternal grandmother's saxophone, military and archives shirts from his uncle, and a classic Dr. Who scarf (4th doctor) knitted by his babcia. Joe loved thrift shops, antique stores, recycling, planet earth, and his place in the universe.

 

As an activist passionate about making a difference, Joe would be the first to urge you to vote in favor of, campaign for, or write your representatives to support universal public pre-K Local Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) in states like Vermont and Washington, public education, and especially public access to music and choral education everywhere. Joe’s strong convictions included Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the Green New Deal, #socialdemocrat, progressivism, and climate activism. His instagram page lists the progressive non-profit civil rights advocacy organization ColorofChange.org https://colorofchange.org/, “formed in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.”

 

Joe also loved or would celebrate the following non-profit organizations if you are moved to make individual gift in remembrance: One Tree Planted of Shelburne, Vermont https://onetreeplanted.org/; Trees, Water, & People https://treeswaterpeople.org/; Moosalamoo National Recreation Area, Vermont https://moosalamoo.org/; Dom Polski (Polish Home) Syracuse, New York https://syracusepolishhome.com/; the UUCS partnership program https://uuspokane.org/WP2/our-church/partner-church-team/; Echo Leahy Center for Lake Champlain https://www.echovermont.org/; Historic Flight Foundation https://historicflight.org/ and Museum of Mountain Flying https://www.museumofmountainflying.org/ or any museum or conservation organization near and dear to your heart.

 

Joe's family would appreciate your support of several organizations that valiantly assisted him in response to an accident that occurred on a forested rural road. These organizations will continue to help many: Brandon Area Rescue Squad http://www.brandonrescue.com/ Middlebury Regional EMS (MREMS) https://www.middlebury911.org/; DHART (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team or flight for life)

https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/dhart; and University of Vermont Medical Center and Level 1 Trauma Center (formerly known as both the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, as well as Fletcher Allen Health Care) https://www.uvmhealth.org/medcenter/about-uvm-medical-center/foundation/ways-to-give.

 

Alternatively, in lieu of the above or flowers/cards, Jozef’s parents started a GoFundMe https://gofund.me/3f6183f8] (activist crowdfunding site) to establish, or contribute to existing scholarships, in recognition of his joi de vivre and life-long interests that help a non-traditional individual: activist with Spokane Preservation Advocates; camper at Vermont State Fish & Wildlife’s Green Mountain Conservation Camp at Lake Bomoseen; canoe camper at Keewaydin Foundation (Lake Dunmore); summer tree plantation care at a Spokane area land trust;  student at Vermont ACE (Aviation Career Education) Camps (Vermont Agency Transportation and FAA), and student at Northern Vermont University or other institution of higher education. Our hope is to honor Jozef by encouraging non-traditional students to grow in confidence and live life’s experiences. GoFundMe donations may also be used to pay for medical or other memorial expenses.