Who We Are
UT Storyteller, Nathan Glad with RFP Founder, Dallas Graham.
The Red Fred Project is a star-lead collaboration connecting critically-ill children with a team of creatives professionals to publish the story of a lifetime.
Working with children who are living with life-limiting diseases we use the creative process to try to heal the parts of them that medical professionals can’t. We give their imagination wings by asking them, “If you could tell a story for the whole world, what would it be?” Then we give them the tools and the team to bring their story into the world.
Aided by The Jolly Troop, an imaginary flock of storytelling birds, and a local team of creative professionals, each child embarks on a creative journey to find their voice, create a book, and heal their spirit along the way.
#TroopBri on one of their photoshoots at the Great Salt Lake.
How It Works
As the creative director and author, the child leads a flock of creatives, including a photographer, fun!raiser and videographer through a three-week journey to hatch a book, from creative concept to print-ready layout. Once we’ve raised the funds to print, 200 copies are bound, delivered and launched into our lives at a book signing party. There, the child meets new friends and new fans, signs books and tells the story of their story-making journey.
Two copies of the book nest in the Library of Congress, while the rest fly into the hearts of readers everywhere.
Why It Matters
The Red Fred Project gives voice to magical and creative children facing unimaginable challenges. The world gets stories that are full of the humor and wisdom that only these children can tell, and the children discovers themselves as powerful creators who are making the world a richer place.
Through the power of storytelling and the act of creation, children move from an identity defined by their disease to an identity of a creator and a contributor. From a body confined by illness, to a spirit released by imagination. In a lifetime defined by uncertainty, these children become authors now. They create a life’s work today.
There are thousands of determined people working to heal the diseases these children live with. The Red Fred Project works to heal their spirits.
Some of our currently published Storytellers: Brianna (ME), Emma (OH), Zeke (MD), Meghan (MA), Luke (PA), and Maya (VA).
Tour dates and states.
Join The Troop
The Red Fred Project needs creatives to join the troop and hatch a new book in your city/state.
Sponsoring the Red Fred Project is perfect for:
Companies wanting community outreach projects
A Senior class project
Creative Agencies who are ready to share their talents
Children’s hospitals collaborations
Community school projects
Individuals who want to share in a life-changing creative process
As a group, you will raise the $15 thousand dollars it takes to produce and print 200 copies of an original hardbound children’s book of fiction. You will also get:
Get your organization’s name printed in the book
A signed copy of your child’s original book
An opportunity to meet the creative child and hear about their bookmaking experience
A presentation and discussion with Red Fred Project founder, Dallas Graham, about the healing power of the creative process
Promotional opportunities for your organization
It’s difficult to put into words how much a child’s life is changed by this process. It’s even more difficult to explain how it affects the hearts of those who get involved. You change the life of a child. They change your heart.
Questions?
If you have questions or want to request a presentation by founder and creative director, Dallas Graham, to discuss the intersection of art and disease and the power that storytelling and the creative process has to heal our spirits, contact us here: dallas@redfredproject.com.
Inspiration Begets Inspiration
The Red Fred Project has now inspired several stage adaptations, including a play based on the Red Fred Project book Climbing with Tigers, produced by the Salt Lake Acting Company and Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory, as well as an full dance production called the live creature & ethereal things by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, in collaboration with Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory.
If your creative community is interested in one of these adaptations visiting your city, let’s talk. These soul-filled productions are powerful on their own or as part of the celebrations surrounding your city’s book launch.
Austin Archer portraying Blue in Salt Lake Acting Co.’s production Climbing with Tigers.