As many of you know already Local Gems Poetry Press frequently partners with and acts as the printer for the Bards Initiative—a Long Island based poetry organization very into poetic-activism. Their latest project, “Songs of Sandy” Poetry Concerning Hurricane Sandy and Other Natural Disasters had its launch event at the Walt Whitman Birthplace on January 19th, 2013 and saw amazing success. This article written by George Wallace at the Huntington Patch covers a good deal of the details.
http://huntington.patch.com/articles/songs-of-sandy-anthology-brings-crowd-to-whitman-house#photo-13027343
75 people came out for the reading and $650 dollars was raised for relief efforts for Sandy. Patrons commented on the event:
“This was an extremely successful event and I enjoyed every moment of the beautiful poetry.”
~ Jeremy Williams
“Such a great and worthy event.”
~Maria Manobianco
“A great night full of ebullience, unity and compassion.”
~Ed Stever
“Incredible seeing everyone come together for a common cause. I am so blessed and gifted to be a part of this awesome community.”
~ Steven T. Licardi
Anyone still interested in buying the book can do so here. 100% of the funds from the sale of this book now and always will be donated to Sandy Relief.
http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Of-Sandy-BardsInitiative/dp/1481075160/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358850288&sr=8-1&keywords=songs+of+sandy