Kickstarter recently reached out to me and asked me to be a part of “Election Issues”. 

What this is is a compendium of political creations to spark conversation and action made by the creative community for everyone to use freely! Through November 8th, they will be releasing new issues featuring everything from activity sheets to recipes, digital zines to printable posters, voting toolkits to audio tracks. 

I am Issue #2 and couldn’t be more honored to be a part of this project with the likes of Adam J. Kurtz who I love and admire for his illustrations and humor!

What I submitted was a free downloadable illustrated recipe of my Stars & Stripes pie done by the lovely Stephani Stilwell and wrote a little blurb about my relationship with this country and what the election means to me! 

Here is the blurb:

What says America more than they flag, and what's more American than pie?

My name is Stacey and I am an immigrant who has chosen to call America my home. I’m sharing my “Stars & Stripes Pie” recipe, illustrated by Stephani Stilwell, from my 50 Pies 50 States project, which is my love letter to America.

Being born in Singapore, America was fascinating to me for as long as I can remember. I quickly learned, while also growing up in Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, that America stood for opportunity, risk taking and the freedom to make your dreams come true. I grew up obsessed; the food, culture and even the romantic idea of going on an American road trip. It was all so foreign to me. All baby Stacey wanted was to get in a car and travel across the U.S of A to see the Grand Canyon or an epic sunset in the open uninterrupted skies of Texas.

When I turned 18 and the time came to find my own way in the world, there was no doubt in my mind as to where I was going. I landed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, in Savannah, Georgia where I attended college, ready for all the experiences ahead of me. Ten years later, I am living in Brooklyn, New York with the same amount of love for this country that I started with. While currently on a work visa (and hoping to get my green card approved through hard work at my job!), I am making my version of the American dream come true.

As you can imagine, this current election is extremely important to me. I’ve seen the country where I’ve always dreamed of living, torn apart by hatred and doubt. I have faith that the American people will make the right choice. Not only for the future of their country but for other kids out there who have big dreams of making this their future home like I did, and still do.

My pie project, I hope, is a sweet and delicious reminder of what’s special about this country. It’s been a fun challenge developing recipes for each state; what is beautiful, fascinating and delicious about each of them. Not only am I trying to celebrate the state itself, but the awesome people that I have met from each state. And it’s also for the people that I’m hoping to meet! I really want everyone to see how much someone, who wasn’t even born here, can appreciate this country. “50 Pies 50 States” is also a happy reminder to all who have chosen to call this great country home and why we’ve made the sacrifices we have to stay here.

Liberty, Freedom and Pie crust for all!

- Stacey Mei Yan Fong