We would like to say “thank you” to Sarabande Books, a nonprofit literary press in Louisville, KY, which specializes in poetry and short fiction. Sarabande kindly donated a box of books to our project after reading about us on the Poetry Foundation website this past October. It is great to see yet another donation coming from a region of Appalachia outside of our immediate Morgantown, WV, location as word of our project’s great work spreads throughout the country! Thank you, Sarabande Books!
APBP would like to thank Claire Parson and Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, at Ohio’s Otterbein University for sending us hundreds of return address labels! This was a wonderful and much needed gift and we are very grateful. If any other college or university groups are looking for a service project or another way to volunteer with APBP, you can drop us a line at appalachianpbp@gmail.com. (Remember, our service area is six states wide, so we appreciate those from outside of our immediate West Virginia location getting involved!) Thanks again, Claire and Sigma Tau Delta!
Better get to the fall update before it’s officially winter in just three weeks!
Here are a few tidbits from APBP over the past few months:
1) Our paperwork has been submitted for 501c3 status, thanks to Dominique Bruno, James Holsinger, and the WVU Student Law Clinic.
2) We had a benefit concert performed by Mountain Jazz Project on November 11 and made 150.00. It was lots of fun with some great music to match. Six volunteers read from letters between sets. Thanks to Pam for making awesome brochures and informational fliers, too!
3) There were a couple of bake sales held outside the Mountainlair at WVU in the months of September and October to benefit APBP. Many thanks to all those who volunteered their time, either as bakers or table volunteers!
4) The Poetry Foundation gave us a shout out on their website on October 18–that explains the 200+ hits we had on this blog that day!
5) We were once again featured in the The Daily Athenaeum, WVU’s student newspaper, in October.
and finally…
6) We are always on the lookout for new volunteers with fresh energy and/or ideas who are willing to help out with the project. Contact us if you’d like to get involved!
Here’s to hoping it won’t be another four months before the blog is updated! Thanks for supporting APBP!
Change is in the hot, muggy, summer air at APBP! Here’s an update on some recent happenings:
1. Our summer doctoral student interns, Dominique and James, have been working diligently on getting paperwork together for our hopeful transition to official 501c3 status, which means that we would be a full-recognized nonprofit that can offer tax deductions for donations, as well as be eligible for various other sources of funding/grants. If you are interested in being involved in some of the legwork for this undertaking, drop us a line.
2. We have been graciously offered a space at the Greatest Garage Sale in Morgantown on August 6, which takes place in the parking garage across from the library. We can use this opportunity to take book and monetary donations, and spread the word about our work. If you are interested in helping out, contact Katy at kohearnr@mail.wvu.edu.
3. We are still in need of fundraising projects between now and…well, probably forever…but especially while working on our 501c3, which costs $400 in itself to file. Any ideas for fundraisers, let us know. And feel free to donate via PayPal in the meantime using the link to the left.
4. Summer’s almost gone, and that means new students will be rolling into town shortly. Students, if you are out there, come get involved with APBP. Good people performing a good service and occasionally throwing pizza parties. Come on, you can’t beat that!
5. Packing help can always be used. Please contact us if you are a new volunteer who would like to be trained. Remember, those old volunteers who already know the routine can pop in at their leisure, as long as the office is open!
Happy rest of summer and hope to see you soon!
We were featured in The Dominion Post this past weekend. Click the link below to see the article. Since we can’t link directly to the newspaper, it is just a scanned PDF, so just zoom in and ignore the fact that it’s a little bit grainy!
As our founder, Katy Ryan, puts it, “our enthusiasm for sending out books overran our budget.” That is just a nice way to say that we’re broke. We have begun a fundraising letter campaign. Here is the letter that will be sent to potential donors. If you feel compelled to donate, you can do so through PayPal via the link the left, or by sending a check to us at the following address:
Appalachain Prison Book Project/P.O. Box 601/Morgantown, WV 26507
Dear Friends,
We write to you on behalf of the Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP) in Morgantown, West Virginia. APBP is a community and student organization that provides free books to men and women imprisoned in six states (MD, KY, OH, TN, VA, WV). The Project is staffed by enthusiastic volunteers who have mailed over 8,000 books since 2006.
For the last three years, APBP has benefited from a WVU Public Service Grant that enabled us to pay for postage, our primary expense (approximately $4000.00/year). We are no longer eligible for the grant, which has put a great financial strain on our day-to-day operations. It is possible that APBP will have to close its doors, temporarily or permanently, if we are unable to raise a significant amount of money.
Each month, we send out hundreds of books that impact prisoners, from those who are avid readers to those who are struggling to catch up on their education to those in need of medical information. Take, for instance, a man from Tennessee who wrote to us:
I received books from you over a year ago. I would like to receive more if at all possible. My situation has changed. I have MS and am bound to a wheelchair so I spend most of my time reading. I don’t have anyone on the outside that can help me with finances or packages. You are very special people to do this for us. It transports me to different lands, tests my ability to solve murder/mystery, and laugh at the comedy.
It is our hope that APBP will continue to serve people who so clearly desire the chance to acquire knowledge and information and to improve their lives while incarcerated. To continue our work, we need your help. Donating just $20.00 would enable us to send books to 10 people while a $50.00 donation would enable us to provide books to approximately 25 prisoners. NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL.
To make a tax-deductible donation, please see the website http://aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com.
Thanks so much!
Our fundraiser was a great success, raising $440 for APBP! Many thanks to Second Cousin, all of those who read letter excerpts, and everyone who came out to support our work by making a donation. (Word on the street is that Pam did a great job collecting those donations, too–thanks, Pam!) If anyone out there has pictures from this event, we’d love to post some on the blog! Send them to Angie at a.t.iafrate@gmail.com and we’ll get them posted!
Saturday, April 30: Fundraiser concert at SOZO Coffeehouse in Morgantown!
Posted: 7 April 2011 in donations, eventsSecond Cousin, a local acoustic band that performs originals and singer-songwriter covers alike, will be playing a fundraiser show at SOZO Coffeehouse on High Street in Morgantown on April 30, 2011 from 4-6pm. There is a $3 donation cover to benefit the Appalachian Prison Book Project. In addition to great music, you will be treated to a performance by APBP volunteers featuring readings of particularly touching, humorous, poignant, or otherwise notable excerpts from letters that came from those we serve: incarcerated individuals in the Appalachian region. So come on down, folks! This is an event for all ages and all kinds, at a smoke-free venue and a perfect time of day that will leave your wild weekend evening wide open, or make sure you have plenty of time left to study for Monday’s big exam, or allow you to get home before the kids’ bedtime, etc.! We’d love to see you there!
Toni Cekada, a student in the WVU Department of Journalism, wrote the following article about us for a blog project:
http://mountaineerlife.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/books-through-bars/
Toni blogs on Mountaineer Life on Wednesdays about opportunities to volunteer in Morgantown. Thanks for thinking of us!
We are now accepting donations via PayPal through a link on this site. You can either click the PayPal image to the left or the “DONATE” menu item above to use this feature. We promise to put your donation to good use!
Note: Credit card donations are not being accepted at this time but will be in the near future. Come back soon if you prefer to donate via your card as opposed to a PayPal account!
