Fun with Friends

BY BRIANNA STEPHENS

What sounds fun to you? That’s the question podcast host Annie F. Downs asks her guests to end each episode of her That Sounds Fun podcast. Now that question shares the title of her new children’s book, which the New York Times best-selling author and speaker partnered with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) to distribute to children during her visit to Appalachia in December.

Through a buy one, give one Giving Tuesday initiative, Downs, her publisher, Baker Publishing Group, and her friends were able to provide a book for every preschool student at CAP’s Child and Family Development Center in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, and the more than 250 students at Sand Gap Elementary in neighboring Jackson County.

“Literacy is a real tool and a gift. It’s a tool to help you go to places you’ve never been before and a gift to yourself,” Downs said. “As a former educator, and a current author, it’s a dream of mine to equip children and families with literacy. Being able to do that for an entire elementary school that is already working so hard to equip their children, and for me to come in and be a part of what they are already doing, felt like a real honor.”

An additional 700 copies of What Sounds Fun To You? have been donated to CAP to distribute. During the school year, CAP’s Youth Empowerment Services Program (YES) staff and volunteers work closely with schools, like Sand Gap Elementary, to provide support for teachers and individualized attention for students, as well as enrichment and recreational programs. YES also touches Appalachian youth through teen leadership and summer camp opportunities.

After spending a few days with CAP, we are more convinced than ever that CAP is the kind of partner we want to work with.

— Annie F. Downs

“We continually search for ways to support literacy among the children in our schools,” said Liz Phelps, CAP’s YES Program manager for Rockcastle, Jackson, and McCreary Counties. “Our partnerships with the schools in the counties we serve are very beneficial, and CAP is grateful for Annie’s friendship and support. When we all work together, we are able to increase the impact that is made on the children in Appalachia.”

After reading and distributing her book to the children, Downs spent time with CAP’s Family Advocacy Program helping employees and volunteers pass out Christmas gifts and hams to participants. The distribution annually helps make Christmas possible for struggling Appalachian families. For a second year the distribution was a drive-thru event because of COVID-19 restrictions.

During her final day in Appalachia, Downs and her team visited CAP’s Grateful Bread Food Pantry in Rockcastle County to help fill backpacks with food. One in four children in CAP’s service area face food insecurity. Grateful Bread helps meet the need for food by partnering with Rockcastle County Schools through the food backpack initiative, which provides weekend nutrition each week during the school year to a group of more than 100 students who have been identified as the most at-risk for hunger.

“We are beyond grateful for the donation and the support Annie has shown for the community,” said Sherri Barnett, community coordinator at the food pantry. “Hunger is an issue people battle every day, and you never know who is battling hunger. Annie’s donation will ensure the children in our community are able to have the food they need.”

CAP employees and volunteers are looking forward to the continued partnership with Downs and seeing the continued impact she will help make in Appalachia to build hope, transform lives, and share Christ’s love through service.

“After spending a few days with CAP, we are more convinced than ever that CAP is the kind of partner we want to work with,” Downs said. “The way they are serving our neighbors, the way they are a part of what the communities need, they are just stepping in and serving, and we feel really honored to be a part. We are really excited about this partnership moving forward.”

Annie F. Downs reads her children’s book to preschool students at CAP’s Child and Family Development Center.

Annie F. Downs and her team packed food backpacks at CAP’s Grateful Bread Food Pantry during their trip to Appalachia.

Ava Vanwinkle, a student at CAP’s Child and Family Development Center, is excited to receive her own copy of What Sounds Fun To You?