KFTC Blog

 It was 34 years ago today, August 17, 1981, that a group of 26 people from 12 counties meeting in Hazard agreed to officially form a new organization – KFTC, then known as the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition. 

"People, especially in eastern Kentucky, were getting to know each other. All around the region there was a loose network of people who had worked together with each other in various ways over the past 15 years or so. What we didn't have in those days was a structured connection between us. There was a no interlocking of these community-level efforts, until KFTC."  –  Herb E. Smith, Letcher County

According to the book Making History: The First Ten Years of KFTC:

"We just knew that it made sense to work together across county lines because the problems we faced were similar and needed to be addressed on the state or national level," said Gladys Maynard, who was representing the Concerned Citizens of Martin County and became KFTC's first chairperson.

Members left a gubernatorial forum in Louisville feeling like they didn’t hear much, and nothing that they’d hoped to.

The forum was hosted by non-profits that work with health and family services, a setting ripe for hearing some clear plans about policies to reform Kentucky’s tax code and generate good revenue for our schools, health systems, public protection, and a good quality of life.

Heat and threats of storms didn’t keep about 100 people from coming out to Woodwind Farm in Junction City on June 13th for the third annual Wilderness Trace KFTC Barn Bash. The weather behaved just right for people to enjoy a great afternoon of good music, delicious food, beautiful surroundings, lake swimming, and friendly silent auction bidding, all to benefit KFTC.

Thanks to event sponsor, Stuart Powell Ford Lincoln Mazda, the chapter was able to highlight locally sourced foods for the second year in a row. Folks who came hungry were delighted to enjoy sausages from Sunwatch Homestead, hot dogs from St. Catharine Farm, and burgers from Rising Sons Beef. KFTC members filled out the rest of the meal with wonderful side dishes and plenty of desserts.

While folks chowed down on food, they got to hear a little bit from member, Jim Porter, about why he is proud to be a KFTC member.

Dear friends,

What a week it has been. Like most people I know, I’m over the moon with excitement about decisions by the Supreme Court on marriage, health care and racial justice. I’m grieving the killing of Clementa Pinckney and 8 parishioners at Emanuel AME church in Charleston. And I’m inspired by ongoing local struggles for justice, including the minimum wage campaign in Lexington and the Louisville community’s strong response to an awful and threatening letter from the head of the Fraternal Order of Police.

This has also been an emotional week for me on a deeply personal level. June 26 was my last day in my role as Organizing Director with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. My husband, Justin, recently started a great new job as head of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Our family is beginning to make a transition in that direction.

But first, in just a few hours I will board a plane with my 12-year old son, Hollis, and set out on a 250-mile hike starting in Yosemite National Park! Justin and Myles will join us for the second half of that journey. Once we return in August, I’ll continue to work for a time with KFTC on an exciting special project (shaping a people’s response to climate change and the EPA’s Clean Power Plan), even as our family’s home base shifts to the South this fall.

My job transition is happening almost 23 years to the day after I was hired fresh out of college by KFTC. After my job interview, some friends asked me how it went. I answered, “I don’t think I got the job. But if I did, I think I could be there a long time.” I had a hunch that KFTC would be an extraordinary place for me to learn, contribute, and sink my roots. In the decades since, my respect for this organization and its people has only grown.

It won’t surprise any of you to know that I’m sad beyond words to be leaving Kentucky, our community in Berea, and this remarkable organization. But above all I’m left with overwhelming gratitude. Working with KFTC – and with each one of you – has been the greatest honor and blessing of my life. Thank you for all that you have taught me and shared with me. Thank you for your courage, vision, integrity and love. Individually and collectively, you mean the world to me.

Before I set out on my journey, I do have a few basic requests: 

• Believe in yourselves and take good care of each other. KFTC’s staff and leaders are talented, dedicated and brilliant people. Everything we need is right here. If we lean on each other and support one another, we can bring out our very best.

• Let’s go get ’em (in a loving and non-violent way). This is a critical time for Kentucky and the nation. The politics of Frankfort and Washington are as corrupt, entrenched, and destructive as ever. And yet people everywhere are in motion. People everywhere are pushing back, disrupting the status quo, and striving to create the kind of community and world we want for ourselves and our children. KFTC has such an important role to play. I know you and we will continue to be relentless, visionary, brave and strategic as we push forward.

• Let’s continue to invest in KFTC.  Please consider becoming a Sustaining Giver to KFTC, if you aren’t one already, by clicking here. My own family has, for many years, made modest, monthly contributions to support KFTC’s work. We will happily continue to do so. That’s what it takes to sustain organizations we care about. It’s an easy, important way to help build a powerful and diverse movement for justice in Kentucky. I do hope you’ll take this moment to set up a monthly contribution of any size. And thank you.

As I’ve been preparing for our upcoming hike, I’ve found myself repeating one simple phrase: “Step forward. Step forward. Step forward.” I’ll be doing a lot of stepping on the trail during the month of July. I’ll try to remember to keep putting one foot in front of the other as we make our big move this fall. I am confident that KFTC, also, will keep boldly stepping forward as we rise to meet challenges large and small.

Thank you all for your love and support. I could not be more grateful.

I’ll see you on the trail.

 

Love,

Lisa Abbott