It all started with Ryan. He is a young man, a student, studying in the funeral director’s track and had lost his dad. While I have donated books, it’s usually in person at events and I can’t afford to lose money on it. Buying my own books and then shipping them gets costly. But it got me to thinking.
How many who were not able to afford it right now, want it? I figured no one would be interested in gifting someone else a book or getting one. I don’t know why. And I feel awful for underestimating your generosity and thoughtfulness. Or maybe I thought it would be hard to break through all the noise out there now. But you all generously gave and because of you, those who weren’t able to buy the book, could make a request and get one–personalized and sent with love by me.
I just wanted to say thank you
This program has meant a lot to me and to those who have received it. Every day, I meditate on things for which I am grateful to set an intention for the day. Because while I have lost a lot, I have things for which I’m grateful and they need to be front and center. This is one program I think about frequently. It’s just this small little act of kindness that would hardly register on anyone’s radar. Yet somehow this one tiny program of people helping other people makes my heart swell and always prompts tears. Sorry to go all gooey on you but it does.
In one case the mom got her book and passed it around to all the family members so they could understand their loved one who suffered from depression and addiction. In another case, an office of licensed clinical social workers who worked for a nonprofit wanted books for their practitioners and didn’t have a budget and they got four to share among the ten social workers so they could better understand the clients they served. And there is a mom who has a husband who is very religious and then a child who struggles and the two are often at odds while she is stuck in the middle trying to figure out how to manage the arguing.
What recipients had to say
“Thank you for this great offer. In these times it is nice to see someone willing to give help.”
“Thank you so much. My brother died by suicide in 2018 and my family is still devastated. We lost our parents already and we were only ages 19-33. (There are nine of us.) I appreciate this more than words can say.“
“I appreciate you & your life . Thank you for being out there . I am a recovering addict & i would love too be able too learn more“
“I have experienced a teenage son who has struggled and overcome drug addiction. He now confides in me about his friends struggling through addiction and suicide attempts. In addition, I currently have someone very close to me that just lost her son due to suicide. Thank you for sharing this. It will help me understand and be a support for them.“
“thank you, thank you, gracias“
“My son is an active heroin & fentanyl addict. He’s been fighting this for almost 10 years. He’s lost everything, a new home, marriage, children, jobs, family. I could go on for a long time. I’ve tried to help in every direction, but I think it’s completely taken him. I’m trying to brace myself for when the time comes. I’ve even begun to prepay for his cremation in monthly payments. I am as you were, & I would love your wisdom & experience to help guide me through this horrible experience.“
“Thanks so much really look forward to getting ur book. I so love to read. But can’t afford to buy books because i am on a very limited income since becoming disabled“
Since we’ve run out of funds
If you would like to support this program, you can use the link below. Paypal or Venmo. (My venmo is @annemossrogers).
Donors gave funds to offer books in memory of: Marshalou Pharr donated a book in memory of her son, Maryellen Viglis’ sister, Elyse Kascik, bought six copies of Diary of a Broken Mind to give away in DJ Viglis’ honor. DJ died by suicide in April 2020 and like Charles, struggled with addiction and mental illness.
Sixty-three books have been sent to 27 states and two foreign countries
States these free of charge books were sent to:
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Massachusettes
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Scotland (Thank you to a generous donor who also paid for the $25 to ship it!)
Requests from these countries for ebooks go unfulfilled:
I haven’t been able to send kindle versions to these countries because Amazon USA doesn’t cross country lines to ebooks outside the country. Still doesn’t seem to be an easy way to do this and I spent a lot of time on the phone with an amazon rep.
India
Scotland
S. Africa
Canada
