Yesterday, Frank mentioned in the chatroom that the New York Times featured an interview by a 13 year old of his grandmother about her memories of the Great Depression. I found it on YouTube last night.

The interview runs about 10 minutes. I found myself watching the entire thing, so I shared a little bit of it on today’s Morning Browser. It’s yet another view of harder times and a story of how America persevered through very challenging economic hardships.

The video clip I’m sharing here is about a special we’re airing tomorrow on News2 on the economic challenges of people living in Appalachia. In this video, I share a way you can help fight poverty here in Tennessee by enriching the educational opportunities for kids in high poverty classrooms across the state.

With only 11 donors so far, Tennessee Bloggers for Education have already fully funded five educational projects in selected classrooms across the state. The thank you letters I feature in this video from children who received books in one of the Memphis area classrooms we helped illustrate the direct impact we’re having.

These classroom projects we fund reach Tennessee children in a part of their day that is structured and where adult educators try their best to expand the opportunities for children to escape poverty. It’s one of our best chances to dramatically change lives and inspire future leaders, and I hope you will join us in making that difference this year.