I'm writing to you as a volunteer and donor for the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. My personal experience with the atrocities of surface mining strengthened my commitment to the organization. Everyone that wants to fight the injustices being committed in the name of profit should join me in becoming an active donor:
http://mountainkeeper.blogspot.com/p/donate.html
Your donations will help cover the cost of our On The Road Again Program. Larry, myself, and many other coalfield residents will travel the country in 2011 to educate others about the process known as mountain top removal and also what actions they can take to end this practice.
As a West Virginia native and a resident of the coalfields for most of my life, I know first-hand the detrimental effects the coal industry has had on our communities and our environment. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners, and both died from complications of black lung. I am not against coal miners but I am against big corporations that come into our state, exploit our people, destroy our environment, then leave with profits without being held accountable for the mess they leave behind.
In the early 2000's I experienced that destruction first hand. Blasting on a mountaintop removal coal mine began within a quarter-mile of my home. The noise was constant and everything was covered in dust all the time. My house would shake, knocking pictures from the walls, and rocks would fly into the yard where my children played. In 2005, while deployed with the military, I received a call from my father saying my house was off of its foundation and that the foundation was severely damaged.
Before all this happened we didn't like mountaintop removal but it was just something we accepted as part of living in WV. After the coal company blatantly denied responsibility for the destruction of my home, I began to realize, "This is what is happening to all my family and neighbors, and it's not right."
So I made a choice to actively fight the process, and quickly joined the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. Mr. Larry Gibson has been an inspiration to me, and this organization is an integral part of ending mountaintop removal. I support it not only with my time but by being an active donor, and I hope you will join me:
http://mountainkeeper.blogspot.com/p/donate.html
Thanks for standing with us!
Sincerely,
Marilyn Mullens
Keeper of the Mountains Foundation Volunteer
P.S. If you can't donate, but you do use Facebook, please set up a Holiday Wish to help fund our work.
