This is a long one but it will be worth it!
2026 has been a rough year so far - for me and for a lot of my people!
I started this post a few months ago. In the time between then and now, we have had a lot of life changes. I have left the Hubby, the House and Farm, Big Lake, and Houston High. Lots of life changes.It has been hard. Hard decisions and choices and changes! Lots of thinking about how I want life to look. How I can start to honor Rye too and his contributions to our lives. Enter #RyeMoney.
I am working now at Mat Su Career and Technical High School and it has been a very good change for me. I still have a big part of my heart at Houston High though and the people there are still my people - even though I have a lot of new "my people" at Career Tech.
I am living with my parents - at the "Tea Party House" and it has been a big blessing for me and I am so thankful that I have this safe and healthy place where I am loved.
Brix (who was Rye's dog) came with me and helps wherever he can! Here, he is helping rebuild a flower bed that a giant rose bush had taken over! I had to help him cross the Rainbow Bridge at the end of October, he was almost 13 years old and could not go any more. Another loss for this year of losses. That was a big heavy one.....
Here is beautiful Brix on one of his last days - keeping me company while I put a storage cabinet together.
We had the Class of 2026 HHS graduation in May, and in past years (I had worked at Houston for 15 years) we have always had a "Rose Ceremony" during our graduation. Not all the schools get to do this ritual, as they have big graduating classes and it doesnt leave time for it. We are still small enough that we can have the ceremony, where each Senior gets at least two roses to give to mentors, Moms, Dads, Grammas, teachers, coaches or whomever helped get them to the finish line! Its a beautiful way for our Seniors to say "Thank you!" Students can pay for extra if they need more than two but each kids gets two!
Rye (right) and Zack Weisz, right before their graduation - they did the rose ceremony and I still have mine - dried and hung on a hook in my room! From both my boys - Rye and Reed! It's that special!
This year the budget was thin, thin, thin! We were not going to be able to provide the free roses for the kids to give at the ceremony, some kids would just have to give their people a hug or a handshake...... it was not right! It caused much anxiety and crying among the grown-ups at the school. We tried calling in favors we didnt have to no avail....until....the right person called and got on the phone with someone who was crying at the time - yes - literally crying about the rose situation. That person who called was Jamie Renee Kowalski and she said - "I'll help! I'll put it out to my Facebook crew and I know someone will be able to help!" So she did, and they did.
Our first donation was an anonymous cash donor who left money in an envelope under a counselor door, never to be known or named but forever wished all the blessings in the world. The second was one of the teachers in our own building, who is also a Coach and has to fundraise to the moon herself, but was willing to step up and bless us - Thank you Natalie Lervaag! The third donation covered the rest of the rose ceremony and paid for part of the Stage flowers (the flowers that sit on the stage during our graduation) Thank you Erika Bills! Your support is priceless to us!
And then came that quiet fourth donation - The RyeMoney came! An Anonymous (to most) donation of $500.00 "In Loving Memory of Rye Humphreys" to cover the rest of the Stage flowers and any left for "any use"! A Scoreboard! The Scoreboard needed for the Softball team to use to host the Regional Softball Tournament! The HHS Softball team was the only team without a real scoreboard!
Then came another donation - Cousin Alyssa Marcum and her family - stepping up..... and another...Rye's friend Zack Weisz - helping....in Memory.
Pretty sure this is what his "happy dance" looked like! Haha! Always with the humor that was just on the edge! The blessings keep coming! From here, and there, and everywhere....even from the Angels.
Recently, HHS needed a blessing for the Red and Black Coffee Shack - an espresso shop in the school that is a Barista training program, teaching the kids coffee/espresso making, cleanup, cash handling and customer service. Our Fearless Leader Kathy Barney is able to train about 10 kids per semester, and the kids are able to graduate and go right to work - sometimes before they graduate even!
Sadly, right now at HHS, the water is not drinkable due to some chemical infiltration. Special filters are required to be added so that the water can even be run through the coffee machine and make coffee! Not only is this program a training opportunity, the proceeds from the coffee store go to the Student Government and other great programs which in turn helps pay for all the fun things that kids like to do - dances, spirit prizes, and lots of good things. The filters for our system would cost about $1500.00 each, it was estimated....that is a huge number for this program, and seemed out of reach without some serious help, especially since the shop needed more than one filter to run everything - including the espresso machine and the ice machines, and all the things!
So the call went out - we needed a lil #RyeMoney. I put the call onto the Facebook, and the Angels responded and quickly! We had about 20 Donors chime in and by 6:30 am the next morning we had raised $2010.00! It was an incredible blessing! Thank you all again! We also had another school in our District step up and help us from their coffee shop - just an incredibly generous show of support! Mat Su Central School we cannot thank you enough for your support! If you missed the post and the Thank you Update please go to it
HERE!
Mrs Fearless Leader Barney with a few of the Barista Trainees and the check from the #RyeMoney fundraiser! Ready to start training again!
I had a couple folks reach out to me after this last #RyeMoney fundraiser closed and say that they want to help on the next round. I was talking to my sister (Michelle Overstreet - the CEO of MyHouse) about that, and since Rye passed, as often as I could afford (which is almost every month), I have donated money to her
MYHouse group and I always write "RyeMoney any use" in the memo so they can use it for whatever they might need for the kids. It's such a great foundation/program and when Rye was with us and in town - he would go over and visit and help out where he could. After he passed, a number of years ago, I got a call from Isaac Smoldon (who works at MyHouse) asking if I had some RyeMoney that I might be able to use for a homeless kid who wanted to play hockey and needed gear. I felt bad explaining that it came out of my paychecks and I didn't have a "pile of RyeMoney" or even a separate account for it. I tried to come up with a way to get it for them without asking outright for it from my peeps. I should've asked my peeps!
This year, after deciding that RyeMoney will be an ongoing way to support great things in our Communities, my sister let me know that Isaac, who called me to ask about money for gear had set up an account at MyHouse to deposit the RyeMoney that I was sending, and to deposit the random donations that fit in with the purpose - which is to help homeless athletes get what they need to be able to compete! Including travel to try outs, gear, and fees paid! How blessed are we to have people who love us and who loved Rye to honor him this way, and make it an ongoing thing! We love this and Rye would be so proud!
The reason I mention this is that coming up on Friday, November 13, 2026, MyHouse will be having their Annual Radio-thon to raise funds and obtain ongoing support for their programs. I have made a donatio to the RyeMoney fund as a challenge for the fundraiser and to build the fund! Listen on Friday for Isaac Smoldon who will be making an announcement about how you can participate and help out the RyeMoney fund!
Tune in to
Q99.7 KMBQ FM Radio (click here for link) for the radiothon information and donation links. If you miss the Radiothon, you can still go to the MyHouse site and donate, or send them a check with #RyeMoney in the memo and it will get where it needs to go and do a lot of good!
Q 99.7 is broadcasting at My House, 300 N. Willow, on November 13th, from 6a-6p, for the 14th Annual MY House Radiothon! Listen and donate! You can call in your donation (907)373-HELP (4357), donate online www.myhousematsu.org or MY House on Facebook or stop by, make your donation in person and take a tour!
Nana (my mom), along with other volunteers, will be answering phones to take pledges or help you donate as well if the phone works better for you!
It's always a fun day, though long for the folks working it, and often times families will even challenge one another to see who can get the most money raised for this great cause! If you are a Hatfield, and you know some McCoys, get the Challenge going! It's good fun for a good cause!
I hope that in your days, that you have Angels and People who will help you when you need it, or when someone else does and you can make that difference!
Be Well and Blessed Be!
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