Liberty Lives Forever
Mission Statement:
Liberty Lives Forever’s mission is to help educate people about the contents of our country’s founding documents, the US Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence.
Why does Liberty Lives Forever exist?
People need to know what the Constitution of the United States says to preserve, protect, and defend it. They need to know the reasons why we declared our independence from the British government to understand the British usurpations and abuses against the colonies. People want to be empowered to hold our government’s feet to the fire, not to lose what we have.
How do we accomplish the mission?
We distribute copies of a pocket Constitution book with 24 Q&A Flash Cards printed in the middle of the book for people to study and learn. These Flash Cards contain facts taken directly from the US Constitution. The cost per book is $1 plus shipping. We also offer a Multiple-Choice Quiz based on the 24 Q&A Flash Cards and a Teacher’s Packet with a step-by-step lesson plan to help teach these flash cards.
Who do we work with? Originally, we worked with the Lions Clubs in Colorado, and eventually, we expanded to distribute 50,000 pocket Constitution books to all 5th graders in Colorado Public Schools. Our program of handing out the books expanded to Wyoming, Ohio, and Indiana through Lions Clubs in those states. The vast majority of states have taken on our educational program. We have expanded our efforts to include Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Optimist Clubs, Fraternal Organizations, American Legion Posts, Veteran of Foreign Wars Posts, all political parties, and other patriotic entities to help educate people about these founding documents—many school districts, colleges, and universities also like these books for their students.
When do we do this?
A Federal law went into effect in 2004, which requires all educational institutions that receive Federal Funds to hold an education program on the US Constitution every year for their students on, or around, September 17, Constitution Day.
Other significant dates are:
- Veteran’s Day, November 11
- Bill of Rights Day, December 15
- President’s Day, 3rd Monday of February
- Liberty Day, March 16, the birthday of James Madison
- April 13, Thomas Jefferson’s birthday
- Memorial Day is the last Monday of May
- Independence Day is July 4
Educating yourself and others about the contents of our US Constitution can be done any day of the year.
History: While doing a literacy program for elementary students in libraries in the summer of 1996 in the Denver, Colorado area, Andy McKean indicated to the students that the library was closed on July 4. He asked the students what we were celebrating. None of the students in the six libraries participating in the program knew the answer. The week after July 4, we gave every student a small 4”x6” American flag and a copy of the Declaration of Independence and discussed the contents of the Declaration with the students.
Andy, then a member of the Lions Club of Denver, mentioned this to one of the members, and he challenged him to print pocket Constitution books to give to students. He said he would give me $5,000 if I could raise another $5,000 and would introduce me to a printer in Denver who agreed to print the books at his cost. We then arranged for elected officials to visit classes of students to give out the books for free and do a short lesson on the basics of what is in the US Constitution. To expand the program, we applied for non-profit status from the IRS. The Lions Clubs endorsed this program statewide. They published many articles in their International magazine about this program. It described the program, and other Lions Clubs participated in this educational program in many states.
Donations/Sponsorship: In order to get the pocket Constitution books printed and distributed across American takes funding. Anyone wishing to donate to this cause will be assured that people across America will get free copies of our country’s founding documents. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to distribute millions of these pocket Constitution books to people in our communities and to our students, at all grade levels? The American Legion Department of Colorado has passed a unanimous Resolution for Constitution Day, September 17, 2018 and I have reached out to the United Veterans Committee of Colorado, a coalition of about 50 service organizations, to participate as well. What better way of distributing these Founding Documents but through veterans that have sacrificed to preserve our freedoms and way of life? We are looking for a major National Sponsor to contribute to pay for the printing and distribution of 1 million pocket Constitution books that will be distributed, free of charge, by people across America. Sponsors names will be printed on the inside front cover of the books to recognize their support. We can also give some of these books to the sponsors to distribute to their employees, customers, and others in their network. We might even be able to hold a media event in Washington, DC, to kick-off this educational program.