Get Emotional

A Letter from Lorelei Scarbro. . .

My name is Lorelei Scarbro. I work for Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW) in Whitesville, West Virginia and I live in Rock Creek, West Virginia. My father, grandfather, brothers, husband and son-in-law were or are coal miners. My husband spent 35 years as an underground union coal miner. He died of black lung and is buried in the family cemetery next door. He was 100% disabled by the time he was 51 years old, and he lived another 15 years. I am a mother of four and a grandmother of one and I was a stay at home mom for 26 years. My husband had just passed away and my youngest child was preparing to leave home when the fourth largest coal producer in the US applied for a permit to blast the mountain behind my house -- I could no longer sit by and do nothing. My home borders Coal River Mountain where Massey Energy plans to level 6,600 acres. Every day in Appalachia the coal industry detonates over three million pounds of explosives. Approximately 1,700 miles of head water streams have been covered and these are the capillaries that feed our major waterways.

Coal River Mountain Watch is ten years old and began with one staff person and a grant from the Appalachian Community Fund. CRMW now has four staff people and a constituency of thousands involved in the movement to end mountain top removal and find other sources of energy such as the CRMW Wind Project.

Just as ACF helped CRMW build the capacity and the people to truly have an impact on this issue, I know that ACF has made a big difference to the growth and success of their other grantee groups in the region. Groups such as the Virginia Organizing Project taking on the critical issue of health care; Owsley County Action Team in Eastern Kentucky in the poorest county in Appalachia addressing community economic development; and historic Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee working with immigrant communities and providing training to help language and communication skills in these communities.

The folks at Coal River and in West Virginia and all of the organizations who are supported by ACF with grant monies and other resources know that without ACF - the only social change grantmaker in our region - we would not be where we are today in the fight to save our mountains and communities. We are often told by the “powers that be” that we shouldn’t get emotional. But:

when an elementary school sits 400 yards from a deadly sludge pile in West Virginia,
when the executive director of a respected statewide organization gets arrested for asking to meet with the CEO of his organization’s insurance company in Virginia,
when the poorest county in Appalachia struggles to find funds to help create decent jobs and educational opportunities in Eastern Kentucky,
when white supremacy and nativist groups threaten one of the oldest national institutions for social change based in East Tennessee,

. . .how can we not “get emotional?”

I hope you will get emotional with me and financially support your commitment to social change by giving a gift to ACF? Your gift will help ACF continue to provide support for youth leadership, education reform, racial justice, the movement to save Appalachia’s mountains and forests, local food and sustainable development programs, criminal justice programs, and more.

Along with the board and staff of ACF and all of the incredible grantee groups who are fighting everyday to bring justice to their issue and to their communities, I thank you for joining this cause and for considering supporting the work we do. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thank you for the opportunity to share and I hope you and yours have wonderful holidays.

In Solidarity,
Lorelei Scarbro, Rock Creek, West Virginia

If you have questions, contact Margo Miller 865-523-5783 or margo@appalachiancommunityfund.org.

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