Village Earth honors the passing of another member of our family, John R. Long who, after a long and spirited battle, succumbed to cancer November 20th, 2017. John first joined Village Earth as a volunteer starting in 1999. As a volunteer, John engaged Village Earth as a sponsor of the second annual Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair which served as an annual focal point for the local sustainability community and showcased sustainable technologies and projects from around the world. The first fair was organized by Students at Colorado State University. After that time, the fair would be organized by the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association each year until 2015. In 2000 John completed Village Earth’s flagship in-person training “Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development (PPSD). Connections made during this training lead John to spearhead a partnership between Village Earth and the International Rescue Committee on a large-scale cluster development program in the southern region of Azerbaijan from 2001 to 2003. John worked diligently as Village Earth’s director of development but was clearly more comfortable ‘out in the community’ working on the Sustainable Living Fair or innovating in the burgeoning biofuels market, eventually co-founding Blue Sun Biodiesel Fuels and other sustainability focused organizations like Zero Hero, Fat Pig Society, and Biodiesel for Bands. John was a true leader who inspired others and supported the growth and development of those around him. He was a major catalyst for change in the Fort Collins community and beyond and we all feel a deep sense of loss with his passing but his legacy and spirit lives on through all the people he inspired and all the institutions he helped to form!
