Launching A Bookshop
Summer brings many joys, but autonomy and the ability to work on multiple projects at my own pace and on my own timeline, is the greatest gift.
Where I have many non-work related adventures planned, I am grateful for the time to devote to a combination of short and long term projects (finishing my 50+ page book proposal, revising a book chapter, reviewing a paper for a scholarly journal, working on a grant, developing two webinars: "Writing for the Lurkers" and "Research Methods For Including Lurkers").
But the project I am most excited to share is that I am launching an online bookstore! Aurora Bookshop by Gina Sipley is set to debut later this summer and is in partnership with Bookshop.org.
An alternative to Amazon and big box retail, when you buy books, audiobooks and giftcards through Bookshop, authors and local independent bookstores receive a higher percentage of the profits.
I'm curating my shelves, writing recommendations and looking forward to sharing my store later this summer!
Guten Tag, Lurkers!
I was interviewed on German National Radio last week as a subject matter expert on lurking! Deutchland Radio is the equivalent of the BBC or NPR for Germany. The episode airs in early July and I'll share the link in the next newsletter. It was particularly interesting to learn that in German there is no direct translation for lurking. Instead, the English word, lurker, is the preferred term.
Lurking Isn't the Negative Word You Think It Is
Summer Is The Hungriest Time Of Year for Children
As much as I adore summer, it comes alongside the reality that summer is also a very painful season. There has been much written about the current "existential threat" to emergency food assistance programs (food banks, SNAP aka Food Stamps, federal free and reduced school lunch, subsidies for farmers who donate excess produce to food pantries). However, what this essential journalism obscures is that for decades, summer has always been the hungriest time of year for children.
Summer is when donations and volunteer efforts taper off. Not being in school everyday means that some children do not receive regular breakfast and lunch. Beyond food, these assistance programs offer soap, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, and all the essential personal care items we need to maintain good hygiene. Regardless of whether these current threats to food assistance programs come to fruition, American children are entering the most vulnerable season of the year. And it has been this way for a long time.
Fundraising for food pantries has been an essential part of my work in education for the past 20 years. Here are some ways that you can maximize your impact this summer:
Set up a reoccurring donation - rather than a large lump sum, $10 a month allows non-profits to better plan and predict their funding streams. It also helps them to secure grants and private matches from larger corporate sponsors. Ex: instead of one $50 donation, donate $5 per month and by the end of the year the organization has received $60 from you and can insure that your investment grows through sustained matching to $120.
Invest in a local farm that shares produce with a food pantry. Many folks love to buy CSA boxes (community supported agriculture) in the summer. You pay a few hundred dollars up front and every week receive a box of farm fresh vegetables and fruits based on what's in season. Many farms like Orkestai allow you to buy boxes that are shared with a local food pantry. It's a double win because you are supporting small farmers and your local food bank through one donation.
Prioritize $ over Food. Cleaning out your pantry for food donations or doing a groccery run is certainly helpful, but cash is king. Non profit food banks can purchase food direclty from groccery suppliers at better rates then we can as regular consumers. This means that $2 might buy you a can of green beans. With $2 a food pantry can buy several cans of green beans.
Thanks for walking beside me,
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