CONGRATULATIONS to our fabulous line-up of 2012 Authors for Earth Day Participants—Steve Swinburne, Dan Gutman, Jennifer Ward, Darcy Pattison, Barb Rosenstock, Barbara Gowan, Conrad Storad, Michelle Worthington, Molly Idle and Brooke Bessesen. We are truly grateful for the expertise and enthusiasm these authors/illustrators bring to our coalition!
Lin Oliver joined our effort this year, too. Lin is the renowned author of the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk? series, Henry Winkler’s co-author on the Hank Zipzer series, a respected television executive and beloved co-founder of SCBWI. After one of her April talks, she donated 50% of her speaking fee to Heal the Bay in honor of A4ED.
To date, our coalition has given voice to young readers across the United States—in FL, AZ, NY, PA, NJ, CA, CT, AR, IL & VT—and we even went international this year with an A4ED author visit in Queensland, Australia (good on ya, Michelle.) Indeed, thousands of students have already benefitted from the generosity of our amazing authors and our contributions to conservation have grown to over $15,750!
Student votes at our 2012 A4ED school visits directed funds to many organizations: National Park Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Humane Society of the United States, Southwest Wildlife, Audubon Arkansas, Australian Koala Foundation, Watershed Nature Center, Phoenix Zoo Conservation Fund, and Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network.
We hope the leadership of our prestigious team inspires more eco-minded authors and illustrators to join Authors for Earth Day. By giving kids the power to shape their future, we shape our own. And the rewards are plentiful. Author Barb Gowan recently wrote of her A4ED experience, “I’ve benefitted in ways that words can’t express.”