Blogathon 2007

The Tenderness Trail
In an effort to document the mind-boggling impact of violence on the lives of our children, The Tenderness Trail exists as the internet's most comprehensive, global look at violence in the lives of children. As the largest online memorial devoted exclusively to child victims of violence "The Tenderness Trail" is a place to pray, a place to plan, a place to act, a place to learn, a place to heal and a place to grow.


Indiana Tenderness Trail
The Indiana Tenderness Trail begins development this month on the grounds of the Peace Learning Center in Lawrence, IN and they're hoping to complete the initial development by this fall. This living memorial will serve as both a tribute to child victims of violence across Indiana, and as a tool for education and awareness for children and adults on peace and nonviolence issues.

With the development of the Indiana Tenderness Trail, this project that has initially been excluded to the internet, is now becoming a living memorial. It is the first in what Richard Propes, founder of this project, hopes will be a series of Tenderness Trails nationwide.


Donating Tenderness
My name is Joanna Stoane and I am on the Advisory Board of The Tenderness Network, which is the founding organization behind The Tenderness Trail project. I thank you for visiting my website here at "Donating Tenderness", which I've built in an effort to help in the development of the Indiana Tenderness Trail. This website isn't meant to bring it's readers unnecessary pain and sadness all for the sake of raising money, or for shock value, as we may sometimes witness on talk shows. But neither is it to be ignored in order to escape the realities of humanity.

This site exists to remember our most precious of losses and, most importantly, to honor the memories left behind. Currently I'm preparing a list of news articles, stories, websites, organizations, and individual people who shed light, in one way or another, on the dynamics behind the cycle of violence and how its come to be that so many children continually pass from beyond our grasp each year.

Then, starting on the morning of the 28th, I will be sharing these things with you, including my own thoughts, feelings, and general commentary. I'm doing this for the sake of spreading awareness, which is key to the eventual action that always must be taken in order for change to occur.


Blogathon 2007
The first annual Blogathon occurred in 2001, when Cat Connor, founder of the event, invited friends and other bloggers to join her in a sleepless marathon. Over a hundred participants stayed awake on July 28 and 29, and altogether bloggers raised over $20,000 for 77 different charities, and garnered even more attention than Cat had ever imagined possible. For 2002, the number of bloggers more than doubled, and the event raised over $50,000 for charities around the world. Numbers again doubled in 2003, with over $100,000 raised for charity.

Cat later stated, "Creating an international community over the course of 24 hours--one with a single purpose--is something that can only happen on the web. It makes the web magical. I'd love to see it become absolutely huge, though I admit I'm a little intimidated by it as well."

This year, in 2007, I've signed up The Tenderness Trail to be available for donations and to spread awareness for the mission behind the project. Representing The Tenderness Trail, I plan to blog for 24 HOURS straight - starting Saturday, July 28 (9am EST). I'll be updating my blog here at "Donating Tenderness" every half hour and you're invited to come along to support me, whether through pledging or by leaving encouragement in the form of comments.

My first hope lays in helping in to raise enough funding to ensure that all, out of the 115 recorded children currently listed as dying as a result of violence throughout Indiana, will have their place along the trail currently being constructed. My second hope is to also spread awareness, which as I've explained, is key to the eventual action that always must be taken in order for change to occur. Please keep in mind that each child is real. They're not simply names etched in stone, but rather precious lives lost to preventable circumstances.

The Indiana Trail will be a place for their friends and families to visit in order to honor of the memories of the precious children we've lost, and to support others who've suffered similar tragedies. It will also be a place for those in the surrounding community to visit and, in doing so, to come to terms with the reality of this problem. Its not going to go away. More children will be senselessly lost if we continue to ignore it. Not all children lost their lives in the same way. Some were due to preventable accidents, some were neglected, others were abused. But each one holds a key to the answers of what can be done to keep other children from suffering the same fate. And I plan to use "Donating Tenderness" as a tool to help offer some ideas in what we can do through articles, research, news stories, etc.

Please contact Richard Propes at richard@tendernesstour.com if you know of a child whose name should be added to the Indiana Tenderness Trail, if you're interested in seeing a Tenderness Trail established in your state, or for more information. Also for more information you may visit my website or other related sites which are each listed below.

Thank You & Hope Sent,
Joanna Stoane

The Tenderness Trail:
http://www.tendernesstrail.com/

Donating Tenderness:
http://donatingtenderness.blogspot.com/

Blogathon 2007 Homepage:
http://www.blogathon.org

The Tenderness Network:
http://tendernesstour.com/

Peace Learning Center:
http://www.peacelearningcenter.org/