One of the privileges that the bronze bust series allows me to do is to support children's literacy programs across the globe.
Granted, my contributions aren't much, but the fan base of each respective author that I sculpt allows us all as a group to give back a little something in each of those authors' names.
For me personally, these donations resonate a great deal. When I was young, my folks were going through a terrible divorce. Quite often, after school I would go to the library and stay as late as I could. It was a wonderful place that allowed me to escape the pain of a family breaking up at home. I'll never forget the librarian; a very kind lady named Mrs. Wocjiak who knew what was happening at home and would often let me help her shelve books and recommend new authors that she thought I might like. She also allowed me to perform puppet shows there as I had a considerable collection of marionettes that entertained the smaller children. She also showed me how to make a book filled with my own illustrations and stories. It was really nothing more than a three ring binder filled with my scribbles on lined notebook paper but to me it might as well have been The Book of Kells, a treasure which gave me a purpose and a reason to focus elsewhere than the problems at home.
The night my folks split up, I went to the library where Mrs. Wocjiak allowed me to take my book with me. She kissed me on the forehead, held my face in her hands and wished me all the luck that only a person who truly understood how important it is to be kind to children knows. I've never been back to that library since as I don't think that anything past that moment in time there could surpass the relevance of how it would shape my path in life.
And THAT'S why I do it. That's why I give back to the best of my ability to help other children, even if it's only writing a small check here and there and never meeting most of these kids face to face. You never know to what extent that you CAN change a child's life for the better might be.
I hope that you and I together can help build a better future for kids who really need it, no matter who they happen to be or where they're from. No matter how humble the effort, it matters.
It really does.
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