Bear The Dog fundraising for Pierce the Dark: A Walk for Story

Bear The Dog

From Bear The Dog

I'm walking to help my boy raise money for female writers to attend future Story Summits in 2021. I'm a girls dog and I love to listen to their stories!

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About Me

I love a great story like a pup loves a cookie and walks or chasing a ball! Derek based part of his Tito's Vodka Scholarship Story, Rescue Me, on my walks with him. We didn't say much. We didn't have too. We knew what had to be said and done with just a look and a sunny day. I helped him get up and play again! Make sure to donate so I can hear and see more stories with my family!

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Stories pierce the dark. They give us hope.  

Update 1: Thanks to your generous donations our team has now been able to provide 1 full scholarship plus travel expenses to an emerging woman writer and we are on the way to being able to offer a partial scholarship to another writer!  Thank you everyone.  A special thank you to Tito's Vodka for pushing our team over the finish line.

Update 2: Our team leader Derek started walking Friday night and didn't stop until the sun had risen come Sunday!  Walking 62.5 miles in less than 40 hours he literally ran the last 1/2 mile to make it 63 miles!  Derek is a cancer survivor. His doctors once told him he may never walk the way he had prior to cancer.  He walked for everyone on his team that can't or struggles to. His team walked more than 110 miles together to raise money walking for Story to empower emerging women writers!  Your donations and shares mean the world to this team and we appreciate them so very much. 

Whether an adventure story or spirtual journey, stories have made us who we are. We use them to do the majority of the walking for us.  They allow us to pass along our hard earned wisdom, our love for life and conquering spirit.  Join us, share and donate. Please.  

We also welcomed new Team members over the weekend!

To read more about why this is so very important to us and to our team leader please follow this link to the article on Medium which was recently published on Derek's experience with the Story Summit and why he's so fired up to Walk for Story. [Click copy and paste the link below into your browser.]

https://medium.com/@davidpkirkpatrick/why-i-am-walking-for-story-136157c81739

"If you're like me, women have always been there for you no matter the reason or the hour. Which is why this walk means so much to me." Writes our team captain." "In my most trying days stories and a woman's wisdom, love and care pierced the darkest hours. While the role of men and Fathers should never be discredited, it has been the women who have read stories of importance to us. Since childhood they've woven them into our lives. Women deserve an equal stake as the men of this world as storytellers, writers and filmmakers. Yet women remain terribly under represented in the field."  This year's mission for Walk for Story is to lift up and empower gifted writers, particulary women as future storytellers. They are the most capable of effecting global transformation for good.

Please join team Pierce the Dark. Walk with Derek and his friends, donate to the cause and raise scholarship money enabling gifted writers who might not otherwise, the ability to attend future Story Summits.  Story Summits provide writers with unparalled access to incredibly gifted and critically acclaimed mentors and instructors within the industry that have spent their entire careers bringing some of our most cherished stories to life on the page and screen.

The first, annual Storyteller Foundation Walk for Story will be held on Sunday, September 27th, 2020. It is the largest one day fundraiser for the preservation of future storytelling in the world.  Your contributions will help ensure that gifted, deserving writers are able to attend the Story Summit.  They are also tax deductible.  

About the team:

Annette Maxberry-Carrara, Winner of the Moms@Work Scholarship for the 2020 Winter Story Summit.  Annette has traveled the world, living in many countries over the years. A force for good in the world, her positive impact on these communities resonates to this day. Annette is an extroardinary writer with an infectious laugh and incredible wit. She can sing too! Annette has several projects in the works with some that are being turned into movies right now!

Sean Teague, host for the 2020 Winter Story Summit.  Sean has voiced many of our favorite animated characters. A talented writer and impressionist, Sean is likewise a force for good in the world. He will have everyone aching in laughter throughout the day. He can also move a group to tears and action in moments. Gifted with profound wisdom and perfect timing, Sean shares a life time of experience in all he says and does, at times with just a knowing look. Sean's kindness, care and love for all is readily apparent the moment you meet him.  He is currently working on a script which is sure to have us all in stitches.

Be sure to check back for future updates and more in depth bios on team members.  

TEAM UPDATE:

We welcome the following team members!

Academy Award Nominee Jeff Arch - Derek's mentor and scribe of the classic rom-com Sleepless in Seatle.  Jeff also wrote Iron Will and many more of our team leaders favorite stories.  His wit and humor is unrivaled.  His wisdom, unparalleled. He is a master martial artist and an exemplary teacher in all he does.

Aleeta Larthey is our Team leader's wife. Aleeta is an EMT with a passion for the health and well being of others. She loves to sing and play the guitar. She's been a rock for many over the years and her addition to the team is wonderful.  Derek had set two goals for the walk for story.  The first milestone was 50 miles. The second was 75.  With time running out prior to important meetings Sunday evening, Derek finished at 63 miles.  He looked out his window to see what Aleeta was doing.  She was walking in the dark with a headlamp as he had the past two evenings. When asked what she was doing she responded that she was finishing the miles he could not to reach those 75 miles!  She did that and then some!

We also welcome Antonia Diegnan.  More info coming soon!

STORYTELLER FOUNDATION

We know that stories effect positive social change. It has always been that way. Just look at how Socrates, Victor Hugo, or Harper Lee helped shape the world.

We sponsor talented writers with a message that needs to be heard.

Our mission this year is to celebrate woman writers. At the current pace, it will take more than 100 years to reach global gender equality. Women writers hold the power to create faster global transformation . . . especially with the pen.

In the last 9 months, the Storyteller Foundation has helped sponsor over 100 writers. Some receive full  or partial scholarships, others get pro bono  mentorship. 80% of those writers are women.

Here are what a few of our writers have to say:

When I found out I was a full scholarship recipient for the February 2020 Story Summit, I couldn't believe it! I had written a children's book as a challenge to myself but I never thought I would actually be able to be a full time writer. Attending the Summit gave me so much more confidence in my abilities and the mentors helped me realize I could make a real difference with the gift of story! I never would have been able to go without a scholarship and that scholarship changed my life completely. This organization is truly magical and the work they do is life changing!

~Mariah Mayhugh, College Student

I was thrilled to be chosen for the Story Summit scholarship, especially to be personally mentored by Tab Murphy, one of the Academy Award nominated writers of Gorillas in the Mist and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Six months and six drafts later, my screenplay has been picked up by a major producer! I'm finally getting my work, and more importantly, my message out there, and it wouldn't have happened without the opportunity and mentoring I received at the Summit. I'm now working on a new screenplay and a reality series! I've totally recreated myself and started a new career at 64.

~ Annette Maxberry-Carrara, Winner of the Moms@Work Scholarship

"When I received a call from The United States about my Story Summit Scholarship, I felt empowered and no longer alone.  I am dedicated to helping new writers to share, publish, and earn from their work. To be able to learn from the best writers and accomplished storytellers elevates my work in helping women writers  to release their voice into the worlds around them.”

~Sylvia Nalubega, Team Leader, Shadows of a Child 

Receiving the Story Summit Dream On Scholarship proved to be a professional pivot for me and a realized dream eleven months later. Throughout my life, I had been encouraged to "write a book someday." Although the thought of authoring a book intrigued me, it remained on the shelf just out of reach as I was a "numbers girl," not an English major. "Who am I to write a book?" would be my prevailing thought as I allowed the idea to gather dust over the years.

Well, although I believe it was my story's potential to heal a hurting population that caught the attention of the Story Summit mentors more so than my writing ability at that time, the encouragement I received from the mentors was life-altering. The mentors' collective professional accomplishments are unparalleled, only to be outshined by their genuine interest to see their mentees succeed. As a whole, the writers' community is so welcoming and supportive, I immediately felt like "one of them." This feeling of community inspired me to shake off any lingering doubts and dive into this new space leading me to realize a life-long goal and hopefully heal countless hearts and souls as a result. 

~ Susan Hunter, Winner of the Dream On Scholarship for 50 and over

Please join us  to invest in the lives of women writers. Story Summit is a safe and inclusive place for all women, including women of color, women with disabilities, LGBTQ women, indigenous women and all faith and non-faith backgrounds.

We encourage any who share transformation by the pen to walk or run with us, donate to the cause, or spread the word.

A story can’t exist unless there is someone to hear it.

Thank you.

Storyteller Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in accordance with the standards and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). DBA for Family University Foundation. EIN: 33-0113092PO BOX 3667 Escondido, CA 92033 United States

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