When the covid-19 pandemic reached Arkansas last March, Leigh Anne Fortner of Conway struggled to find a way to help others -- and to talk with her two young children about the virus.
"I remember just feeling sad about covid, just knowing that there's going to be a lot of suffering and sadness, wanting to help ... and feeling kind of helpless and hopeless," she says.
Fortner, a licensed speech therapist, found a way to achieve both goals, becoming a first-time Christian book author with the recent release of the children's title "The Light."
The book likens the sun to the light of Jesus Christ's love, while the sight of a mother comforting a crying child outdoors prompts a newly widowed woman to call her adult child. "The Light" acknowledges sadness and grief with the reminder of God's constant presence.
"I just wanted [children] to see it's OK to feel sad," Fortner says of the book's intent. "Everybody's sad at times, but if they can look around, they can see good news, and light. During dark times, choose to see the good in life."
Fortner says the beginnings of "The Light" occurred to her suddenly during the latter half of March 2020, after the first cases of covid-19 in Arkansas were confirmed.
Early drafts of the book were well-received by family members, and Fortner partnered with friend and fellow parent Anastassiya Selezneva, a graphic design student at the University of Central Arkansas, for the book's illustrations.
All net proceeds from the book are being donated to Vine and Village, the nonprofit arm of Mosaic Church in Little Rock that provides spiritual and physical needs of residents in the 72204 ZIP code of Little Rock, and works toward economic renewal of the area.
During the pandemic, the organization is focused primarily on food distribution, according to Paul Kroger, executive director of Vine and Village. A bus with fresh produce that people in need once browsed is now operating curbside for people's safety during the pandemic, bringing nutritious food to those residing in areas with limited access to fresh groceries -- geographic areas otherwise known as food deserts. The mobile market that Vine and Village partners with the city of Little Rock has taken the form of healthy food delivered in boxes.
The book netted a little more than $1,000 in proceeds for Vine and Village in the first two weeks after its release in mid-January.
"The cost for us to feed a person high-quality nutrition is 70 cents a day, and that's for three meals," Kroger says. "So when you think about how far can you stretch a dollar, or $1,000, you can see that goes a long way."
Fortner says she, her husband and children attended Mosaic Church when they lived closer to Little Rock.
"I thought [Vine and Village] could do a lot for the community and Little Rock, because they're doing good work every day," she says.
Fortner says that, as in "The Light," she sees Christ in the world as ever-present.
"You can see God's goodness and love in creation, and in His people and animals, and in the love of mothers and the joy of kids," she says. "So I kind of just was thinking about how I see God, about that love that's given to us and how it spreads to us and to others, and how it's always here."
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‘The Light’
“The Light” is available from Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and at Kindred Mercantile in Conway. More information about Vine and Village can be found at vineandvillage.org.
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