Our Daily Tread by Lisa Belisle

ABOUT THE BOOK
Our Daily Tread features daily inspirational and thought-provoking quotes (presented within the framework of a perpetual calendar) that are grouped by themes such as hope, courage, opportunity, and gratitude. The book's goal is to inspire people to make a difference in their family, in their town, or around the globe. The book also features personal essays, photographs, and children's artwork submitted by the volunteers and supporters of Safe Passage, a Maine-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping the poorest, at-risk children of families who work in the Guatemala City garbage dump by offering programs that foster hope, good health, and education.

Sales of the book will benefit Safe Passage, which was founded by Hanley Denning. Denning, a Maine native, died in a car accident in January 2007. She was 36.

ABOUT THE EDITOR
Lisa Belisle was raised in Yarmouth, Maine, the oldest of 10 brothers and sisters. She earned an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College, a Doctor of Medicine from University of Vermont College of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health from Medical College of Wisconsin.

Lisa operated her own family medical practice for six years before starting Aerie River, a practice devoted to prevention and wellness that employs an integrative approach to medicine that includes and traditional and non-traditional therapies.

She is a medical advisor for Raising Readers, MaineHealth Learning Resource Centers, and Mainehealth Employees Works on Wellness (WOW) Program. Lisa writes regularly for Parent & Family and The Maine Switch as well as maintaining her website (www.drlisabelisle.com) and blog (www.bountiful-blog.com). She also hosts an hourlong radio show Sunday mornings on WLOB in Portland, Maine.

EXCERPT from the foreword by Lisa Belisle
“ Our Daily Tread is a yearlong literary journey across a landscape of profound themes: Live with joy. Live deliberately. Share what you have, and who you are, with others. These themes were the life lessons of our friend, Hanley Denning.

Hanley was a Maine girl. Her parents, Marina and Mike, raised her in Yarmouth, an older sister to Jordan, Seth and Lucas. I met her as a high school student. We both attended the Maine Summer Humanities program as rising seniors, not knowing that we would eventually attend college together at Bowdoin.

Hanley had a ready smile and a slightly goofy sense of humor. Though I later learned that she excelled academically and was a state champion runner while at Greely High School in Cumberland, I would never have guessed this from her unpretentious manner. She enjoyed poring ove�r celebrity magazines and eating chocolate. She lived life with joy. Hanley also lived deliberately; she understood what she needed to do to be successful. She graduated from Bowdoin in 1992 and earned a graduate degree in education from Wheelock College in 1996. She then became a teacher in North Carolina. Finding herself challenged by her inability to communicate with Spanish-speaking students, she went to Guatemala in 1997 to learn their language.

Just before her return to the United States, Hanley visited Guatemala City and noticed entire families sifting through garbage at the municipal dump. These individuals, unschooled and beset by poverty, relied upon the dump for their livelihood. Hanley felt she could change the situation by sharing her talents as a teacher. In 1999, she instituted an educational program for the children of these families, calling it Camino Seguro, or Safe Passage. She also called upon others to share what they had, and who they were, with the children of the Guatemala City dump.

Traveling between Maine and Guatemala – and eventually to sites across the world – Hanley raised money and motivated an impressive number of Safe Passage volunteers. She also looked toward the future for the children who would be graduating from her program. Unfortunately, she was not to be a part of this future. On January 18, 2007, Hanley left the Safe Passage campus to visit a potential job-training site. Her car was hit by a bus traveling in the wrong direction. Hanley Denning was killed. She was 36 years old. I learned of Hanley's death on January 19, 2007 – my 36th birthday. I had last seen her the previous spring at the Safe Passage 5K road race. We spoke briefly while waiting in line to use the bathroom, sharing a joke about the scarcity of women's facilities at races (all runners understand this inconvenient reality). Hanley had the same ready smile, the same goofy sense of humor. This time, however, she seemed tired. I resolved to do what I could to help my Bowdoin College classmate and high school friend.

I did not have a chance to fulfill this promise before Hanley died. But I have made an effort to do so since, and this effort has perhaps been even more meaningful than it otherwise would have been. In a strange twist, Hanley had told her parents that previous Christmas that she believed her life would soon be cut short. Concerned about the fate of Safe Passage, she asked her parents to ensure that "her children" would continue to be cared for, and that her mission would be continued. Our Daily Tread represents my contribution to this mission – and the contributions of many, many others.

By purchasing Our Daily Tread you, too, are contributing to Hanley's mission, as all proceeds will go directly to the children of Safe Passage.

Thank you for sharing what you have with others.
May you undertake your journey deliberately, and with joy.”