We hope you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas week and are looking forward to an exciting 2014!

For our last Update of the year, we wanted to share with you this fantastic quote from a new volunteer at our most recent reading clubs:

"Literacy is crucial. Volunteering our time and resources is important. But few things compare to the joy of having a little first grader look up at you with the biggest grin you've ever seen - complete with missing front teeth - and tell you she wants to come back and do this every day."

The joy you spread by volunteering and supporting us has far-reaching effects, and together we strive to create moments such as the above!

Reading to Kids has just six days to raise the final $10,000 towards our Annual Fund Drive goal of $45,000! We are also just 95 donors away from beating our total donors from last year!

Help raise $10,000 in 6 days and exceed last year's number of donors by finding 95 more donors! Donations are tax-deductible, too!

Here are three easy-peasy ways you can help us reach our targets!

1) Donate online or make a pledge to donate by check today by visiting our 2013 Annual Fund Drive page. Contributions of any amount are greatly appreciated! $5 buys 4 take-home prize books for participating kids, and $50 buys 4 hardcover read-aloud books!

2) Show your support by asking friends and family to contribute! Visit our 2013 Annual Fund Drive page and look under the "Help us Fundraise!" header for resources.

In particular, please consider personalizing and sending the provided sample email to friends and family, or becoming an Angel and posting our handy donor sheet.

3) Ask your employer if they make matching donations or want to donate to a great cause! We have so far received (or are expecting) matching donations from Northrop Grumman, The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, Clark Construction, Toyota, Disney, Verizon Foundation's Matching Gifts Program, Chevron Humankind, DirecTV, LinkedIn, and the Yahoo! Matching Gifts Program, all through the efforts and requests of our volunteers who work for those companies.

Once your employer, friends, and family know about Reading to Kids, many will probably want to donate to us, and are looking for a great cause to support before the end of the year - we just need you to ask!

Note: If donating by check, please make sure the check is dated on or before December 31, 2013. If donating by credit card, the donation must be made on or before December 31, 2013.

The new year is just a few days away, which means our January 11th Reading Clubs are just 10 days afterwards!

January's book selections are all about "Discovery and Adventure", and we need more volunteer explorers to help lead the way with the children on the 11th.

Please sign up today, then reply to our January 11th Facebook Event that you are going.  In this way your friends can see you are attending the reading clubs, and you can help spread the word by inviting them to join, too.

Volunteering with friends on January 11th is a great way to celebrate the new year!

In November we told you the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation donated 2,400 prize books for our reading clubs. Their generosity and support did not stop there as this month they donated another 1,010 books for you to give away to participating children! The books we give away occupy proud places in the homes of the children we serve, providing imagination and adventure for years to come.

Because of their and your support, every child who participates in our reading clubs is given a book to take home and keep. Since 1999 we have donated many thousands of books to school libraries, kids, parents, and teachers, and we could not continue our efforts without the support of groups like the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, and you, our volunteers, donating your time and money.