CAN YOU IMAGINE?
• Can you imagine the water that comes into your house being so dirty that you can’t even wash your hands with it, not to mention being able to drink it?
• Can you imagine being a teenager in one of the poorest areas of America, wanting to attend college, knowing that you and your family can’t afford it and knowing the odds are against you and most of your friends even finishing high school?
• Can you imagine all of your life being surrounded by beautiful trees, mountains, and streams only to have them wiped out by extraction abuses from the coal industry?
• Can you imagine having to drive 60 miles each way to your job which pays minimum wage with no benefits?
For many people in Central Appalachia, these are everyday realities,
sometimes multiplied by 10!
CAN YOU ALSO IMAGINE?
• Can you also imagine a place where people have strong roots to the place they call home and choose to stay there because they find strength in the beauty and embrace of the mountains and joy in the music and stories handed down from generation to generation?
• Can you also imagine a place where people have pride in knowing who helped settle this land, including Underground Railroad stops leaving strong African American communities; Italian and Hungarian immigrants who came to work in the coal mines; Scotch, Irish and Eastern European farmers and workers; and our newest residents from other countries, including Spanish speaking residents?
• Can you also imagine a place of beauty and rich social fabric where people actively work to address problems of poverty, racism and social inequity in their own communities and neighborhoods?
Imagine all of this, because all of this is Central Appalachia!
Appalachian people echo and nod to the words of our new President-Elect, Mr. Barack Obama. This is a dream and a hope that the people of Appalachia have yearned for for many years. You can help ACF and its courageous grantees not only imagine change but also accomplish it.
“This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: YES WE CAN.”
Your gift to ACF can make change; it can make a difference.
- 100 will send 10 teenagers to workshops about HIV/AIDS prevention and provide materials they can take back to share with their friends and schools.
- $200 provides 10 water quality tests of drinking water reserves that have been contaminated by coal mining.
- $500 aids 10 Appalachian farmers in marketing their products through a cooperative.
- $1000 gives 5 rural high school students assistance, tutoring, pre-testing, and support to increase their opportunities for college admission.
Donate Now
