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Reading to Kids News
October 17, 2024
 

Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,

Last Saturday we welcomed spooky season with 490 kids, 209 volunteers, 80 parents, and 23 teachers & staff joining us at our October 12th reading clubs!

28% of the students at White Elementary joined us, the highest percentage ever at that school!

2nd graders enjoying a book at White Elem.
2nd graders enjoying Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody at White Elem.

Chris Martin's 200th reading Club!

We celebrated 14 volunteer milestones on Saturday, including four impressively large ones that were years in the making!

In the below photo taken at El Cholo we celebrate Chris Martin (in the center) as he holds his 200th reading club milestone certificate! Chris is our seventh volunteer to reach this remarkable milestone! You may also recognize his name from leading our LA Marathon team for the past decade! Click the photo to see it full-sized!

Milestone Certificate Earners Chris Martin and Emily Sandersfeld, surrounded by other Reading to Kids volunteers and staff

To Chris' right is Politi Site Coordinator Emily Sandersfeld, who earned her own 100th reading club milestone certificate on Saturday, along with fellow Politi Site Coordinator Heather Horn (who couldn't join us at El Cholo, but you can see Heather dressed as a witch in this photo from our October 2018 reading clubs)!

By joining us for their 100th reading clubs, Emily and Heather also earned their 100th reading club magnetic name badges! They are our 45th and 46th volunteers to reach the 100 reading clubs milestone!

Heather Horn and Emily Sandersfeld 100th Name Badges

Finally, volunteer Jason Zelin earned his 150th milestone certificate on Saturday! Jason has been one of our Santas at several December reading clubs)!

Jason Zelin 150th Milestone Certificate sign

Many of the volunteers and kids dressed in fantastic costumes on Saturday - here are just a few photos we received! Click on each image below to see it full sized.

Politi 2nd grader in a Black Panther custume holding his new Black Panther book he received
Politi 2nd grader with his new Black Panther book he received

Magnolia Elem. volunteers in costumes
Volunteers at Magnolia Elementary

Volunteers at White Elem.
Volunteers at White Elementary

MacArthur Park Elem. volunteers in costumes
Volunteers at MacArthur Park Elementary

We thank the seven incredibly entertaining magicians (several from the Westside Wizards) who made the reading clubs so special this month!

Click on the photo below to see magician Jeff Thomson performing at the Politi reading clubs!


Magician Jeff Thomson performing at Politi Elementary
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NOVEMBER 9TH READING CLUBS

Please sign up today for our November 9th reading clubs! Submit your RSVP for our "Seasons & the Natural World" reading clubs at www.readingtokids.org.

We'll need hundreds of volunteers in November, so please sign up early! Then help spread the word by also joining our November 9th reading club event.

CSULA basketball players and coaches volunteering at MacArthur Park Elem. reading clubs
CSULA Basketball players & coaches volunteering at MacArthur Park Elem.

November is our college spirit month, so dig out your college sweatshirts and ball caps to wear that morning as we see which college shows the most spirit!

HELP! SITE COORDINATORS &
SITE OPERATIONS HELPERS
NEEDED NOV. 9TH

Operations Helpers at Charles White Elementary

With only three employees at Reading to Kids, you can see we rely on dedicated Site Coordinators to keep our program running smoothly each month.

We urgently need experienced volunteers to take on more leadership with us by helping train new and returning volunteers, being a GLC, or especially being a Site Operations Helper at any of our schools.

If you can help in any of those roles, please e-mail us at info@readingtokids.org to help create wonderful reading clubs!

_______________________________________________

LEGENDARY BINGO
THIS WED. OCT. 23RD
WITH CELEBRITY BALLCALLER
JOSH BRENER

Drag Queen Bingo!

It's back! This Wednesday, October 23rd, join Reading to Kids for Legendary Bingo at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood with celebrity ballcaller Josh Brener from Silicon Valley, The Last of Us, Baked in Brooklyn, & Saturday Night! Josh also ran for us on our marathon team in 2019, 2020, & 2021!

The drinks are strong, the drag queen bingo is "R" rated, and seating is limited, so be sure to reserve your seat in advance! All attendees must be 18 years old or older.

Reading to Kids Bingo Night flyer

If you've been before you know it's a blast. If you haven't, click here for a video on their website to see what you've been missing!

Please click the image above for a flyer in .PDF format and forward it to anyone you know who may be interested in going to our Legendary Bingo Night. You can also print out the flyer and post it wherever many people are likely to see it, perhaps with a note that you are going and inviting others to join you.

WHEN:   This Wednesday, Oct. 23, 7pm - 8:30pm
WHERE: Hamburger Mary's Restaurant
               8288 Santa Monica Blvd.
               West Hollywood, CA 90046
               (323) 654-3800
               hamburgermarys.com/weho/

Cost:  $20 suggested donation (cash only, please!), which includes 9 regular bingo games and one grand prize bingo game with fantastic prizes!

Legendary Bingo is very popular and there is limited seating available. Plan to arrive before 7:00 p.m. to get a seat. We strongly suggest making a reservation at hamburgermarys.com/weho/ or (323) 654-3800 to ensure your seat.

All proceeds go to Reading to Kids. For more details, visit our October 23rd Bingo event on Facebook and invite your friends!

_______________________________________________

FOUR MORE RUNNERS NEEDED
FOR THE 2025 LA MARATHON,
13.1 MILE CHARITY CHALLENGE,
OR LA 5K!

Do you know any runners? Are you a runner? Please forward this email to them and ask them to join Team Reading to Kids in the 2025 Los Angeles Marathon or 13.1 Mile Charity Challenge on Sunday, March 16th!

Team Reading to Kids logo

This is our 11th time running the marathon, and we're looking for four Charity Challenge runners (the last 13.1 miles of the course) and more full marathon runners to join us in one of the best marathons in the country.

If either of those distances is too daunting, you can join us in the LA 5K (that's just 3.1 miles) near Dodger Stadium the day before the marathon on Saturday, March 15, 2024.

If you or a runner you know is interested in becoming one of our fundraising runners or creating a fundraising team, please email Chris Martin at marathon@readingtokids.org!

IMPORTANT NOTE: To register to run on behalf of Reading to Kids, you MUST receive from us a special web address to use when registering on the Los Angeles Marathon website.

Team Reading to Kids LA Marathon runners
_______________________________________________

ANNUAL FUND DRIVE LAUNCH
& CURRENT LEADERS!

Reading to Kids Annual Fund Drive

We extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped us kick off our 2024 Annual Fund Drive, including 75 volunteers this past Saturday who together donated $4,269!

The names of these donors have already been added to our 2024 Annual Fund Drive page, and here are the school competition stats so far:

SCHOOL COMPETITION LEADERS!

Highest percentage of volunteers who donated at the Oct. 12th reading clubs:
1st: Esperanza (an impressive 62%!)
2nd: Alta Loma (54%!)
3rd: Magnolia (44%)

Highest dollar amount raised at the Oct. 12th reading clubs:
1st: Esperanza ($1,342!)
2nd: MacArthur Park ($863)
3rd: Alta Loma ($673)

All of these donations will be doubled or tripled by our matching donors at every school!

Our overall goal by the end of the year is to raise $65,000 from 500 donors.

Here's how you can help, with your donations being counted towards the school competition:

1) Make a pledge to donate by check or donate online today by visiting our 2024 Annual Fund Drive. Contributions of any amount are greatly appreciated!

2) Show your support by asking friends and family to contribute! Visit our 2024 Annual Fund Drive page and look under the "Help us Fundraise!" header for resources, including information on creating your own personalized fundraising page on Facebook, our handy donor sheet for raising money with your friends and co-workers, tips for fundraising, and so much more.

Once they know about Reading to Kids, many of your friends and family will want to donate - we just need you to ask!

Also, if your workplace matches donations to nonprofits, please share with them your donation, and ask them to consider matching it. In this way you double your donation and share with others your enthusiasm for Reading to Kids!

Reading to Kids Annual Fund Drive
_______________________________________________

Thanks, and we really hope to see you at Bingo on Wednesday and at our November 9th reading clubs!

Sincerely,

Charlie Orchard, Yancy Rodriguez Coe, & Anna Davies
Reading to Kids
1600 Sawtelle Blvd, Suite 210
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-7455
(310) 479-7435 (FAX)
info@readingtokids.org
www.readingtokids.org
www.facebook.com/readingtokids
www.x.com/readingtokids (formerly Twitter)
www.instagram.com/readingtokids

Make a donation:
www.readingtokids.org/HowToHelp/HelpDonate.php

NOVEMBER 2024
Reading Club RSVPs
School RSVPs Capacity
Alta Loma 10 29
Esperanza 15 29
Gratts 8 26
MacArthur Park 22 32
Magnolia 30 30
Politi 23 29
White 13 29
TOTAL 121 204
NOVEMBER Books. . .
Kindergarten book
Kindergarten
First Grade book
First Grade
Second Grade book
Second Grade
Third Grade book
Third Grade
Fourth Grade book
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade book
Fifth Grade

Reading to Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Visit www.readingtokids.org for more information.

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