40 Days for the Children (…preview)

How did your grandparents spend their retirement? My grandfather retired to Florida, bought a hosue, and cared for his family. My grandmother raised a garden and volunteered at her church.

Grandfather Ed Wiley will take 40 days to walk 455 miles in the heat of summer from Charleston, WV to Washington, DC to keep his granddaughter from being poisoned by coal dust in her elementary school.

Ed is a former coal miner and the stoutest grandfather I’ve ever seen…

(Austin Hall, Abbey Pifer, Debby Jarrell, and Ed Wiley)

Ed has already helped spearhead efforts to raise money for a new school in his community. Here he and his granddaughter are carrying bags of pennies into the state capital to give to Governor Manchin, who has ignored and put off the issue.

…but for his walk to matter, it’s gonna take us all.

“Our local and state leaders have turned a blind eye to this problem and a deaf ear to our concerns,” said Wiley. “I’m walking to Washington, D.C., to get some help.”

The Front Porch blog gives us a chance to walk side by side with Ed Wiley, and support his every step along the way. Please help Ed by continuing to follow and spread the story of the children who are being poisoned by coal dust at Marsh Fork Elementary.

A group called Pennies of Promise is working to raise their OWN money to help move Marsh Fork Elementary School away from the coal processing plant and 2.8 billion gallon sludge dam directly above the school.

Pennies of Promise will be supporting Ed’s walk, and they need your help NOW. Their website, along with the Sludge Safety Project, has great background information on the school as well. The Huntington News gave a great intro to the issue and deserve props as well.

Ed’s walk kicks off TOMMORROW.

Day 1: Wednesday August 2, 2006
Join us at the [WV] State Capitol at 9 a.m. for a press conference and the kick-off walk for the Pennies of Promise walk from Charleston, WV to Washington, DC.

West Virginia State Capital – Charleston, WV
9AM.
It begins.

Tommorrow…ANOTHER coal silo illegaly close to Marsh Fork Elementary School?

About JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.