Paul Andrew Dawkins, a Jamaican living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and founder and director of a ten-year-old non-profit, child-advocacy organization, The Paul Andrew Dawkins Children’s Project, Inc., is in the process of compiling and publishing a series of 34 books titled CeLEBRATIONS to be sold on an international basis to benefit projects and programs of his organization that will, in turn, benefit children here in the USA, Jamaica and other countries around the world.
Dawkins, who published an anthology of poetry, Only the Strong Survive, in Jamaica in the very early 8os, has appeared on Jamaican radio and television programs like, Expressions (with Leone Forbes Amiel),and RJR and JBC radio programs. In 1979, while a student at St. Jago High School, Dawkins presented then Jamaican first lady, Beverley Manley, with a bound copy of his anthology of poetry.
Dawkins was published in ESSENCE magazine in October 1999, and has appeared on BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley.
Dawkins published 4 books in 1998, two of which feature introductions by Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the New York Times international best-selling series, Chicken Soup for the Soul, as well as by LeVar Burton, star of television shows like ROOTS, STAR TREK and PBS’ Reading Rainbow.
Jamaicans [and others] across the USA, in Jamaica and around the world are being invited to submit letters written to and celebrating loved ones for inclusion in the CeLEBRATIONS series books that Dawkins is currently compiling for publication towards the end of 2001 or early 2002.
Titles in this series will include :
[1] CeLEBRATIONS-notes to my mother,
[2] CeLEBRATIONS-notes to my father,
[3] CeLEBRATIONS-notes to my son,
[4] CeLEBRATIONS-notes to my valentine, etc.
Profits from the books will endow Dawkins’ organization and its various projects and programs aimed at making life better for children on a number of levels.
He plans to provide full scholarships, through The Dawkins Teaching Scholars Program, to young people in Jamaica who wish to teach and who have the potential to become dynamic, effective, compassionate educators. This program was launched in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in May 2000.
What will make this scholarship program different is that he plans to provide career-long support to each scholarship recipient for as long as he or she re
mains in teaching and remains an effective educator. Another project of his organization is The Special Fund. This was launched in 1998 and seeks to help parents of chronically-ill children who are having problems meeting the cost of their medical care. This will be expanded to help children in Jamaica as well.
Plans are also in place to donate funds to help with research into finding cures and treatments for illnesses that affect children through this fund.
Those whose letters are accepted for inclusion in this series of CeLEBRATIONS books will receive $25 for each letter accepted. Those who are interested in submitting letters should also be prepared to include a photo of themselves, as well as a photo of each person they are writing about, if the letters submitted are accepted for publication. [Don’t send photos with the letters, please! Wait until the letter(s) have been accepted.] The format of the books makes the inclusion of photos a must.
For a complete list of titles in this series, and for full guidelines on submitting letters for inclusion in this series of books, please e-mail Dawkins at [email protected], or [email protected].
You can also reach Dawkins at 910/488-3953, by regular mail at 1531 Palmer Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28303-3038, or by voice-to-email at 1-800-699-2466 [box# 910/488-3953].
