Three months ago, as part of the launch of my children’s book, America’s Dreaming, I had a goal of giving away at least one hundred Welcome Wagons filled with books about belonging and kindness to communities of need in the country.
I also had no idea how to make that happen.
Flash forward, we’ve raised enough money for the first hundred wagons and have established partnerships with wonderful organizations like Radio Flyer, Penguin Young Readers, Welcoming America, Raising a Reader, Booked Authors and Brilliant Detroit. This week the first twenty-one communities received their wagons and additional partnerships have been created to identify additional libraries, schools and communities to receive future wagons.
So what happened? I asked for help and received more than I could have imagined.
I shared my story of not feeling welcomed as a child and how significant the issue of belonging is to kids around the country and asked friends for support. Brian, Shelly, Matt, Monica, Douglas, Brian, David, Allison, Nils,, Mary, Will, Lolita, Dan, Melissa, Steven, Misty, John, Brenna, John, Amy, Doug, Daryn, Matt, Rachel, Peter, Mindy, John, Susan, Andy, Norman, Stephanie, Ted, Nune, Joseph, Susan, Larry, Brandy, Mary, Andrew, Rafaela, Tommy, Julia, Tim, Monica and Lisa stepped up and donated all the money needed to purchase the books.
I asked Allyson if she’d be able to order the books using her discount and she, Peter and Lily made that happen, ordering the first thousand books and delivering them to my door.
I asked Julie, Andie, Carlin and Rory to help me pack and arrange almost five hundred books, activity guides, lesson plans and welcome stickers, to ship out to communities across the country.
I asked Robert, whose grandfather founded Radio Flyer, to support this initiative. He connected me to Mindy who helped make it happen and shipped out the first twenty wagons.
I asked Brian to introduce me to Daniel at Welcoming America, who introduced me to Jordyne who helped identify the first twenty communities to receive wagons. She introduced me to Rachel, who I interviewed for my podcast and had such a beautiful conversation about welcoming in America today. They invited me to join their annual meeting in Detroit to kick off Welcoming Week where a Welcome Wagon was on full display
I asked Michael to introduce me to Michelle at Raising a Reader who introduced me to Suzanne and another Michelle. They invited me to join this webinar about Creating Belonging in the Classroom through Diverse Books. Michelle then invited me to join their board meeting to share America’s story and that of the Welcome Wagon program. They also connected me to Rebecca who helped create a lesson plan for schools and other organizations to use as part of the initiative.
I asked Suzanne to introduce me to someone in Detroit where I could donate a Welcome Wagon while there. She connected me to Cindy, Kristen and Sharon who invited me to their Brilliant Detroit celebration where I read my book and hand delivered my first wagon to brilliant kids like David and Khloe.
I asked Lesa if she could connect me to someone at my old elementary school. She introduced me to Sarah who helped arrange a school assembly in October. There I’ll donate a Welcome Wagon in honor of my elementary teacher, Mr. Downs, who made me feel seen and welcomed at a difficult time. His children and grandchildren will be in attendance.
I asked Kathie if she could create this webpage to help others learn more and see how they can get involved.
I asked Elizabeth and Liz at Penguin if they could support the initiative and help spread the word and they came through big time.
It is easy to be anxious even despondent about the nature of things in the world today. Divisive language that talks about people overrunning our borders, harmful and false claims about people coming to eat our pets, judging people by where they come from, who they love, what they look like. Stoking fears and sending signals that say “You’re not welcome here.”
But I see a different world. One in which people remember what it feels like to be the new kid, or feeling alone even when you’re surrounded by hundreds of people. People who appreciate the pain of not being seen or feeling like they don’t belong. And who are more than willing to welcome people; to open their wallets, networks, doors and communities – if only we ask.
I’m filled with gratitude, respect and awe for all those, including the fantastic folks named above, who do their part to make this country a more welcoming place.
This Week’s Recommendation: If you’re looking for a thoughtful conversation on welcoming in our country today, listen to the latest episode of Attribution, where I talk with Rachel Peric, CEO of Welcoming America.