Phil Haussler of Omaha, embraces the beauty of the written word. He worked for four years to get his company, Marblespark off the ground. He has already written and published a personalized children's book and now he is asking for your help as "Project OpenBook" takes shape and grows in 2010.

Phil is teaching his son an appreciation for poetry and his community-generated children's book is giving aspiring poets and artists a platform to share their work, "We realized how many people are passionate about writing for their own kids for other children and we thought what if we could harness the power of that passion to write a children's book, to get together as a community and use the proceeds from that book to do something cool."

And that something good is using the proceeds from the finished book to support the Oprah endorsed "Room to Read" organization. Phil says, "What really spoke to me is what they're doing for young girls in Nepal who are sometimes sold into indentured service, who have zero access to education. And so with $2,500, a relatively small sum, we can return a girl to her family and give her a new life."

Jaime Kubik of Hickman is a self-proclaimed wanna be poet and she saw this as a wonderful opportunity to share some of her poems...with her sons...and the world, "It's fun for me to write poetry, I like doing that. It's fun to know that the poems are going to be ones that my kids can read. It's fun to just read the poems on-line with the kids right now that aren't even mine...those are fun!"

Twenty-five poems have been posted by adults and children and Phil hopes to reach over a hundred poems before they're turned into a hard-back book by the end of the year.

How to get involved in Project OpenBook
1. Go to www.MarbleSpark.com
2. Click the window labeled Project OpenBook