Something from Nothing

To my friends who were recognized at the ALA Awards yesterday: I've sent you emails. You *know* how I feel about you and your work and how richly you deserve the cascade of love and attention pouring over you now. 

For my other writer/illustrator friends who pursue their creative work despite no public acclaim, I'm just as ecstatically proud of you. Your lives, your words, your art . . . it's always a choice to believe in and actively participate in making a Something from the looming chaos of Nothing. And I love you for making that choice each day.

Yesterday was also Martin Luther King Day, a day of service.  My husband and I were last-minute volunteers at a local project hosted by our community college in Northern Virginia. I want to share pictures so you'll see another way Something comes from Nothing. 

The Nothing: kids in Iraq and Afghanistan, whose classroom are often bare of essential supplies

The Something: folders, pencils, notebook paper, erasers, pencil sharpeners, rulers, pencil bags, scissors, colored pencils, composition books (all donated) 

And the missing link: the people who gathered and bagged the supplies to send to Operation International Child, which ships them overseas to . . . 









. . . be distributed by American troops to children. 



If you work with kids or need a fool-proof service project, I highly recommend Operation International Children.  You can view their "report card" here.