Inspiring Conversations with Courtney Iverson of Morels & Memories and RecuperAcres

Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Iverson.

Hi Courtney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Morels & Memories Mushroom Hunt & Alzheimer’s Fundraiser was started in honor of my mother Heidi Vanderlinde who was diagnosed with Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in Nov 2011, at the age of 49. As my mother continued to decline from the disease, as it is terminal and there is currently no cure, I was having a difficult time with the thought that there was really no hope. In 2015, I joined a support/advocacy group of young people who had experienced family with Alzheimer’s Disease. This group also made fundraising efforts, which was the start around where I figured out how I could contribute.

One day before a meeting with the advocacy group, I looked at the Star Tribune, a local MN newspaper, and on the front page was a morel mushroom. After observing the cult-like following around them, I realized how structuring a fundraiser basically as a treasure hunt around them had the chance of being very successful.

So in 2016, shortly after the birth of my son, with very few funds, my family and friends turned a hobby I had learned as a young adult picking Morel mushrooms in the woods on my family farm and neighbors properties into an education contest that has raised almost $35,000 from the annual event over 6 years, for a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, with 100% of funds going to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, who uses 100% of funds towards research for a cure.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wish I could say the biggest struggle was the MN winter not wanting to let go, causing a snowstorm 2 weeks before the event in 2017, which made it the only year so far where zero morels were found.

But 2019 takes the struggle cake Less than a month before the event, our father Leon passed away unexpectedly. Mom was already on hospice for 15 months by that point. He was my mother’s primary caregiver. Due to the complications of the illness, we were never able to tell her of my father’s passing. My sister and I immediately became our mother’s primary caregiver until she succumbed to the disease in August 2019. We somehow still managed to have the event that year and are so thankful to all those who came to the event or supported us through that in any way during that time.

Today’s obstacles are not as extreme, knock on wood, and deal more with lack of time and space sharing at the farm for the event. After my parents passed in 2019, we had a portion of the family farm property permitted by the county as a private mental health park/Ecotherapy facility called RecuperAcres, where therapists can bring their clients to integrate nature in their therapeutic processes and develop more nature based programs to help their clients heal.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Morels & Memories Mushroom Hunt & Alzheimer’s Fundraiser. It is the only fundraiser of its kind. We specialize in making learning how to hunt morel mushrooms fun. Funds raised is at 167% per year. We will keep hunting morels until we find a cure. www.morelsandmemories.org

RecuperAcres. We are the first private mental health park/Ecotherapy facility in MN that allows providers to safely share the space with their clients so they can create and host more nature based programs to help their clients heal.

The concept acknowledges how the institutional environment around mental health is fundamentally wrong. It is an anti-development and nature preservation based concept. www.recuperacres.com

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Sometimes it is worth giving up something that you love for the greater good.

Mushroom hunting is similar to fishing, where you don’t give up your secret honey hole unless you no longer want it to be a secret. I am happy to give up our honey hole to raise funds for a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. And from a fundraising perspective, it has become a whole different kind of honey hole of its own.

Pricing:

• Morels & Memories $50 for General Admission
• Morels & Memories $80 for the Philanthropist Package

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected] & [email protected]
• Website:www.morelsandmemories.org & www.recuperacres.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morelsandmemories/ & https://www.instagram.com/recuperacres/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morelsandmemories & https://www.facebook.com/recuperacres