Peterborough writer Erica Richmond, the founder of Open Sky Stories, has raised $530 for the Trans Peer Outreach program at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge.
In May, Richmond announced she would donate half of the proceeds ($10) of each sale of her children’s book Pixie and the Bees during the month of May to the association.
Based on her own experience of living with anxiety, Pixie and the Bees (illustrated by Brooklin Holbrough) tells the story of a happy Pixie who has an encounter while picking wildflowers that leaves her with constant pain and discomfort that nobody else understands at first.
By the end of May, Richmond had exceeded her expectations and — through a lot of promotion — sold a total of 53 books.
According to Richmond, a huge part of her success was a school board in British Columbia that purchased a copy of the book for each of their child youth workers to have as part of their resource kits.
In an email, Richmond says she decided to direct her donation to the Trans Peer Outreach program “because it’s Pride month and, honestly, the Trans community deserve all of the support we can provide.”
Richmond — whose youngest child is transgender — has written a blog post explaining why inclusive language matters.
For more information about Pixie and the Bees and to order a copy of the book, visit openskystories.com/product/pixie-and-the-bees/.
For more information about the Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge’s Trans Peer Outreach program, visit cmhahkpr.ca/programs-services/trans-peer-outreach/.
