Happy Giving Tuesday from Appalachia: The Origin Project
It’s Giving Tuesday, and there are hundreds of thousands of worthy causes–so many important organizations that do God’s work and then some. I would like to offer a few words about the Origin Project, a twelve-year-old, year-round, in-school writing program that has encouraged, celebrated, supported, and published young Virginia writers–in addition to giving them access to bestselling, published authors in the classroom.
Here’s where it all began–many years ago, I was a temp on Wall Street, and there was a young, up-and-coming executive who was a true role model. She would soon become a wife, mother, and philanthropist. Nancy Bolmeier Fisher co-founded The Origin Project with me–and dedicated her life to it until she passed away in September of last year. Nancy enlisted volunteers, including Linda Woodward and Rhonda Carper, retired teachers with a passion for writing, to help encourage the students of Southwest Virginia and beyond.
Appalachia is the heart of American literature, music, and art. It is there, in Big Stone Gap, that we began with 40 students in one school. Twelve years later, we have served nearly 50,000 students, grades K through 12! If it seems like a miracle … it is.
Teachers took to the program, and soon, their students began to examine their roots in poetry, prose, music, and art. They interview their grandparents, bake with an aunt, hear war stories, and more as they write their projects. This year, our students are focusing on the floods from Hurricane Helene that have impacted areas of Southwest Virginia. At the conclusion of the school year, students present their work in assembly, and there is nothing quite like the Unveilings. The Origin Project schools hold assemblies around the state with guest artists and local, state, and national leaders weighing in on the new writers and their creations.
There are field trips to museums, libraries, and events. Our students have read the poetry of Laurie Eustis aloud on the stage of the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia. Students and teachers have interacted with bestselling authors Barbara Kingsolver, David Baldacci, Jeannette Walls, Margot Lee Shetterly, Val Emmich, Adrienne Brodeur, AJ Jacobs, John Wilson, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, Jarrett Krosoczka, Barry Gott, Senator Tim Kaine and more. Our friends at the Library of Virginia, the University of Virginia at Wise, Mountain Empire Community College, and the Southwest Virginia Museum have welcomed our students for these assemblies, for which we are so grateful.
My mom used to have a sign in her kitchen that read,
“There are only two bequests we can leave our children: roots and wings.”
I remember nothing, but I can see that framed artwork clearly and never let go of its wisdom. It just goes to show you that the words you pass in your home matter. She inculcated a sense of giving back and paying forward, but she had no idea how that concept took root in me.
So, here is how the Origin Project works. We begin each school year with the distribution of journals. Students use these journals to jot down their thoughts and draft their own work that will appear in our annual anthology. If you read our anthologies, you will see the depth of talent, wisdom, and vision in our young writers. Nothing makes me happier than to see the buses pull into an auditorium or theater where students meet their counterparts from around the state. Friendships are formed, and creativity blossoms.
We have proudly published nine anthologies and one cookbook, which you can view here.
But friends, this effort takes all we’ve got, and we need your help. Please know that on Giving Tuesday, we don’t expect big gifts–but a big gift to us is 5 or 10 dollars–every penny of which goes to the programs created to support The Origin Project. In order to move our kids around safely, secure venues, and publish their work, we need help.
American ingenuity and imagination are alive and well in Appalachia. We are elated to see our students overcome stereotypes they did not earn but inherited. We watch as their facile minds and nimble fingers tell us the story of who they are–and why they matter. I grew up in Appalachia, and I’m weary of the perceptions of the people I love–but I want you to know that the Origin Project shows and tells us on the page that the naysayers have us all wrong. The students matter–their stories matter–and your generosity matters. This corner of the American quilt is patchwork beautiful–the students are Scots-Irish, African-American, Middle Eastern, and more. They are immigrants. They are children of immigrants. They are children whose ancestors date back to the American Revolution. They are all these things and more–their unique voices of inclusion, celebration, and camaraderie will thrill you. But you don’t have to believe me–all you need to do is read their work.
This week, we are so excited to kick off the holiday season with our Origin Project students at the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap for the annual Festival of Trees. Students from Union Middle School and St. Charles Elementary School will participate in a poetry writing workshop and ornament making exercise to celebrate this time of year. You can make your Giving Tuesday gift to the Origin Project here.