Beloved,
It’s counting time!
This fall, as the weather cooled and the leaves changed, we gathered our Tennessee neighbors for the timeless and traditional season activity of apple-picking. On the sacred grounds of Children’s Defense Fund Alex Haley Farm, local volunteers joined our staff for “Apple Picking Days,” and their joy filled the air as they asked one another: What’s in your basket? How many did you get? What are you going to make with yours?
These exchanges took place amongst trees we know well. We all know trees by the fruit they bear, and we know a little bit about apple trees. We served apple cider donuts to the families visiting this year.
Neighbors from across our southern community came and picked all the apples they could carry or even pull in huge plastic tubs. We welcomed them in continuation of Alex Haley’s tradition of hospitality. He had 220 apple trees planted on the farm in 1989 and loved serving guests food made from their fruit, including apple butter, applesauce, and apple fritters. More than 35 years later, our neighbors continue to eat from the fruit of Haley Farm’s trees.
Whether you joined us for Apple Picking Days or you’re enjoying your own seasonal traditions, it’s counting time. Picking season is over. It’s time for us to assess.
In this election season, we hear case-making messages across the airwaves. What people did. What they didn’t do. What they deserve as a result…your vote. When their arguments are done, we will be assessing the impact of the mid-terms elections on children at our American Youth Policy Forum. This year’s forum, “Doing Our First Works Over: The New State of America’s Children,” will examine today’s most pressing issues affecting young people while advancing bold ideas for lasting change. I hope you will join us.
We ask questions of others about the impact of their choices on children. We are asking similar questions of our own work. What fruit did we bear? How many? What are we going to do with what we have?
CDF’s progress reflects the commitment of communities, child advocates, partners, and supporters who invest time, talent, and treasure in building a better future for children.
Since January, Children’s Defense Fund and CDF Action have engaged on behalf of children by:
- Campaigning to secure more than 40,800 public comments to defend Head Start with a national call to action;
- Bolstering literacy skills for more than 11,000 CDF Freedom Schools® scholars in nearly 100 cities across the nation;
- Training more than 1,385 college students and young adults for servant leadership;
- Equipping 420 faith leaders and child advocates for child advocacy ministry;
- Launching the Voting Rights Are Children’s Rights campaign to prepare more than 3,000 partners to vote with and for children in the midterms;
- Launching the CDF Children’s Churches Program, for congregations committed to building the capacity to advance child well-being;
- Shining a light on the separation of families and child detention with the #FreeFamilies and Protecting Immigrant Families coalitions; and
- Coordinating the actions of more than 300 congregations in the 2026 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths®.
In caring for the apple trees once planted by Alex Haley, we are reminded that working for children is a long-term investment. An ideal future for America’s children requires leaders who can dream 30 years ahead, cultivate relationships, and wrestle faithfully with challenges.
Sustaining the progress we’ve made and expanding our reach will require continued investment from people who share our vision for children. Will you be counted among the child advocates planting seeds of investment in our children’s future today?
A gift to Children’s Defense Fund helps equip young leaders, strengthen communities, and advance policies that put children first. Like the apple trees at Alex Haley Farm, the investments we make today will bear fruit in due season…a joyful, hope-filled future for generations to come.
Please invest in that future by making a gift today. And next year, join us in the orchard.
For our children,
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
President & CEO