Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,
Last Saturday 201 kids, 71 volunteers, and 26 teachers &
staff
helped to make our November 13th reading clubs a success!
Check out the below group whiteboard creation by 2nd graders at Esperanza after reading Over and Under the Rainforest. The kids also had fun roaring and howling like the animals!
 (Click on the above image to see it full size)
Nearly half of the volunteers showed their college spirit by wearing college logos from 20
different colleges and universities, continuing our efforts to encourage higher education through reading!
 Collage of 3rd through 5th grade crafts from MacArthur Park Elementary kids inspired by our November books on Zoom (click on the above image to see it full size)
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2021 ANNUAL FUND DRIVE UPDATE & LEADERS SO FAR: DOUBLE YOUR DONATION FOR YOUR SCHOOL!
On Saturday we received another $1,265 from nine donors towards our 2021 Annual Fund Drive!
The names of the new donors have already been added to our
2021 Annual Fund Drive page, and here are the school competition stats so far:
SCHOOL COMPETITION LEADERS!
Highest percentage of volunteers who donated at the Nov. 13th reading clubs:
1st: Politi (a new leader with 29%!)
2nd: Los Angeles
3rd: MacArthur Park
Highest dollar amount raised at the Nov. 13th reading clubs:
1st: Politi
2nd: Esperanza
3rd: Los Angeles
Highest percentage of volunteers who have donated overall:
1st: Politi & Los Angeles (tied for first)
2nd: Esperanza
3rd: White
Highest dollar amount raised overall: 1st: Esperanza
2nd: MacArthur Park
3rd: White
All of these Nov. 13th volunteer donations will be doubled by the below matching donors at every school, and their offers still stand! That's right, anyone can double your donation and change the above standings by donating this week! Just donate via our Annual Fund Drive page and indicate your school in the notes or comments field of your donation!
Alta Loma: Ramana Prakash & Shalini Reddy matching up to $250 combined donations
Gratts: Bernice Hernandez matching up to $300 combined donations
MacArthur Park: Mary Abdo matching up to $500 combined donations
Magnolia: An anonymous donor matching up to $1,000 combined donations
White: Robyn Chew matching up to $1,000 combined donations
Help us reach the above matches by donating today!
FIRST TWO FUNDRAISING ANGELS!
We also thank and congratulate Matthew Jones and Christina Branom for being our first
2021 Annual Fund Drive Angels!
They each became Angels through their Facebook fundraisers by gathering donations from at least 10 of their friends. Thank you to them and everyone else gathering donations for Reading to Kids!
We have so far raised $12,014 from 122 donors!
Our Annual Fund Drive lasts until December 31st, and our ambitious goal this year is to raise $60,000 from 600 donors.
Here's
how you can help, with your donations counting towards the
school competition:
1) Make a pledge to donate by check or donate online
today by visiting our
2021 Annual Fund Drive. Contributions of any amount are
greatly appreciated!
2) Show your support by asking friends and family to
contribute!
Visit our
2021 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!
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NINE MILESTONE READERS!
Virtual reading clubs count towards our milestones just as much as our face-to-face reading clubs!
Though we couldn't provide printed milestone certificates to them, we honored these nine volunteers by sharing their milestone certificates at their schools' Site Coordinator debrief sessions after the clubs!
• Sarah Jo Torgrimson & Jackie D'Almeida (10 reading clubs each)
• Michelle Bates & White Elem. Site Coordinator Erica Kolsrud (20 reading clubs)
• Alta Loma Site Coordinator Pamela Anton (40 reading clubs)
Pictured below are the certificates for our four largest milestones:
• Nestor Camargo (50 reading clubs)
• Politi Site Coordinator Heather Horn (70 reading clubs)
• Jennifer Grannis (100 reading clubs!)
• Leader of our marathon team & perennial Santa (see below!) Chris Martin (170 reading clubs!)
By joining us for her 100th reading club, Jennifer also earned her 100th reading club magnetic name badge!
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DECEMBER 11TH READING CLUBS ON ZOOM, RSVPS TO OPEN SOON
We are eager for next month's virtual summer reading clubs on December 11th, but first need to recruit enough teachers to be Zoom hosts for them.
As soon as we confirm enough teacher hosts, you can then
submit your RSVP for those "Family &
the Spirit of Giving" reading
clubs on our website!
These December 11th reading clubs will also feature the glorious return of our Zoom Santas!
 Zoom Santa with helper (click above image to see full size)
(We remain in regular communication with the principals about when we may be able to return to in-person reading clubs on their campuses.)
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NINE RUNNERS NEEDED FOR THE 2022 LA MARATHON, 13.1 MILE CHARITY CHALLENGE, OR 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 2022 Los
Angeles Marathon on Sunday,
March 20th!
We're looking for at least three more marathon runners and six Charity Challenge runners (the last 13.1 miles of the course) 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 Big 5K (that's just 3.1 miles) near Dodger Stadium the day before the marathon on Saturday, March 19, 2022.
You can
share this Facebook group with any of your runner
friends to encourage them to join our team!
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.
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Thanks, and please keep checking www.readingtokids.org for when we can open the RSVPs for our December 11th reading clubs!
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