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Dear
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From Julianna Baggott, co-founder of Kids in Need - Books in Deed Dear Friends of Kids in Need – Books in Deed: When I moved to Tallahassee two years ago, I suppose I was expecting the wealthy shine of Florida tourism. I was surprised by the city's struggles with poverty. But I was told that it was nothing compared to the county west of us, Gadsden County, where schools were overwhelmed with the issues of poverty, and where students went home, quite literally, to dirt floors and no running water. The bad news is that Gadsden County isn’t the poorest county in the state. In Putnam County, 28.9 % of the children live in poverty--almost one out of every three. They are closely followed by Hardee and Hamilton, Desoto and Dixie. With the extreme wealth of Florida, there is also extreme poverty and often extreme weather which only adds to the problems. In 2005, I visited my first Title One school--Oak Ridge Elementary in Tallahassee. I talked about the power of the imagination, the importance of looking closely at the world around us, the way books take hold in the mind, and how everyone has a writer inside of them--a voice--and how having a voice is a powerful thing. I felt like the children were intrigued and some of them even seemed lit from within, like some part of them had just woken up. When
I leave wealthier schools, there’s the buzz of the children
opening their own copies, clutching them to their chests, sometimes
moving quickly to a quiet corner and becoming absorbed. But because
the kids couldn’t afford the books, this visit seemed incomplete
and frustrating. The kids who needed the books the most--to hold
their very own copy in their own hands--weren’t going to get
them this time, when it seemed most crucial. I’ve been joined by award-winning and bestselling (and hugely generous authors) Adrian Fogelin, Lisa McCourt, Paul Shepherd, and Gaby Triana. XMRadio is donating CDs of their XMKids programs as well as satellite radios. New Line Cinema has donated a free premiere for their new feature release How to Eat Fried Worms, based on the classic book. And Florida State University’s Foundation has generously offered to house the fund. And so it was a very great pleasure when the first school to sign up for free books and author visits was Oak Ridge Elementary where 79% of the students qualify for free lunch; 13% qualify for reduced lunch; 91% of the students are minorities; and the average household income in this zip code is $27,312. We are relying on the imaginative fuel of kids writing stories, but we also rely on your fuel. I’m guessing that, once upon a time, you were a child who found the right book at the right moment in your life, and the words didn’t run through you like water. No, this time they took root and bloomed. It opened up your imagination. Maybe you once wrote a story and it felt like you were learning to speak a newly invented language all your own. When you created a character, you were learning empathy. When you were plotting a story, you were learning strategic thought. When you were inventing what might happen next, you were developing your imagination. When you were putting one word in front of the next, you were understanding, deeply, your language and finding your own voice. Empathy. Strategic thought. Imagination. Language. Voice. Regardless of your field--physics, business, film--I’d bet that these elements have gone into every worthwhile endeavor you’ve undertaken in your life. I
hope you’ll make a donation to Kids in Need – Book in
Deed and help power the next generation. |
