Books for a good cause

The following letter comes from author Sara Lewis Holmes. Rather than write my own bit about it, I'm just going to be lazy and post her letter here.

Dear Friends,

My niece, Emily, has been battling cancer for over two years now. But that's not all she's been doing. She's modeled in a show for Flashes of Hope, raised money for Rainbow Hospital and starred in a video for Flying Horse Farms. I feel downright lazy next to her.

So here's what I'm doing: starting a library of camp and horse related books for Flying Horse Farms. Flying Horse Farms is a magical, transforming and fun camp for children with serious illnesses and their families. It's an Ohio based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and working to become a member of Hole in the Wall Camps, the world's largest family of camps for children with serious illnesses. Watch the video!

I talked with the director, and he said that rather than one central library, he would love to have books available at several spots around the camp---the stables, the craft room, the main activity hall, the cabins, maybe even the dining hall.

The books would be...

For kids to read while they wait for their turn on a horse.
For kids who suddenly discover they love pottery or archery or fishing and want to know everything about it.
For kids to share and discuss a cool quote or an inspirational person during nightly reflection times.
For kids who need a fast idea for a drama skit, or a nature craft, or a easy recipe.
For kids who need to rest.
For kids who love to read.
For kids who are kids and want to be kids and must be kids even if a serious illness complicates their lives.

If you want to help, here are some suggestions:

- I've set up a wish list on Amazon. You can choose a book and donate it directly from there. The list is small now, but it will grow as the campers and counselors and the director add new requests to it.

- You may also buy from that list at your local independent bookstore and have them ship to the address below.

- You can blog about your favorite camp or horse related book. I'll round up those posts, plus forward them to the director and consult them in expanding the Wish List. (Little Willow already did this. Thanks, LW!) Feel free to copy this entire post or use the button I'm putting in my sidebar of my blog: Read*Write*Believe.

- If you're an author or illustrator or publisher or blogger with a camp or horse related book, you can donate directly to the camp, but please remember that the camp serves kids ages 7-15 and your donation should reflect the needs of the camp. (*See the list of activities below.) Please, in all cases: NEW, appropriate books. We don't want to overwhelm the staff with boxes of old books to sort. This is not a book drive, but the beginning of a special library.

Questions? Email me at: email@saralewisholmes.com

*Here's a list of activities at camp: Horses, Arts & Crafts, Painting, Woodworking, Pottery, Boating, Fishing, Swimming, Cooking, Ropes, Adventure (teambuilding), Nature, Sports & Games, Music, Drama

Fiction is also welcome, but at this time, we're concentrating on stories with horses in them. Once the camp is fully up and running, I'll add other fiction requests from the campers and counselors.

The address for donations:

Flying Horse Farms
225 Green Meadows Drive South, Suite A
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035

Website: Flying Horse Farms

To send directly from Amazon: wish list on Amazon

Watch the very short video about Flying Horse Farms. It's wonderful!

Emily and I are deeply grateful for your support.

Many thanks,
Sara Holmes

While you're at it, buy Sara's book (or at least get it from the library) - it's good. I'm really looking forward to her next one, which is coming out this fall.