I'm an ordinary person, living in an ordinary town in America. I am married, I work full time, I have 5 children, and one grandchild. I'm just like nearly any other person you might run into at the grocery store or little league game. I'm a Christian, but not the pushy kind. I'm always happy to talk to anyone anywhere about my God, but I have rarely initiated those conversations. I respect people's rights to their own beliefs.
I happen to have a heart that breaks for children that find themselves in impossible situations. Poverty, for a child, is an impossible situation. Its out of their control and often separates them from their peers in a most difficult and humiliating way. Except, of course, when everyone around you lives in poverty, too. But its still an impossible situation. But on this passion, I know I'm still ordinary. I hope people can find me, people that have the same passion so we can work together NOW.
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About 2008
I may have the year wrong. Here's how I got down this track...
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Event 1: I watched the first "American Idol Gives Back". I cried. I thought it was great. I was moved by every story they highlighted. I was really curious to watch next year to see how the American needs would be met.
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Event 2: I watched the second "American Idol Gives Back". I cried. I thought it was great. I didn't really catch any great strides being made towards the children living in dieing coal mining towns that were highlighted in the first show. To be fair to the folks with American Idol, I'm sure there are things they are doing and probably more than they are able to put on the air. Or at least I hope so. But this event moved me on to....
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Event 3: I started researching. Through census bureau reports I found McDowell County, West Virginia to be the 8th poorest county in the United States. And that is relatively close to me. (I'm in Virginia.) I dug deeper to find most families in this county were living below the poverty line. These statistics are available all over the internet. I'm not going to post them. I'd encourage you to do your own research. You might find a top 10 poorest county in the US closer to where you live, and that's better.
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A little about McDowell County...beautiful mountains, poverty, closed coal mines, unemployed and working poor, dedicated teachers, dual and single parent families, beautiful children; Americans!
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I found a small town inside McDowell County, with a small school, with modestly improving school results. This kind of information is also available on the internet about schools everywhere with a small amount of time spent looking.
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Event 4: I contacted the school before that school year ended to try to put together a plan for 2008-2009 school year. They were cautiously open to receiving help. We put together a very small plan and from there have made some small beginnings.
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Today: I have started an "adopt a classroom" project in this small school that has been up and running for this school year in the most modest of ways. Small start. I'll post another entry to describe the project better. I'm hoping that people who watch Diane Sawyer's special on Friday will be moved to look for people with the same desire to help. Thank you for stopping by! -Missy
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