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Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,
This past Saturday we again read to more than 400 kids! 416 kids, 224 volunteers,
56 parents, and 24 teachers & staff
helped to make our November 8th reading clubs a success!
Kindergartners at Alta Loma getting ready to hear The Very Impatient Caterpillar
(Click on the above image to see it full size)
26% of the entire student body of Esperanza Elementary joined us on Saturday and received a new book - the highest percentage there in seven years!
COLLEGE SPIRIT!
124 volunteers (55%) helped inspire college aspirations on Saturday by wearing college logos from 42
different schools!
(MacArthur Park volunteers showing their college spirit.
Click on the above image to see it full size)
UCLA showed the most spirit of local colleges with 29 volunteers wearing UCLA logos (USC was close behind with 26 volunteers).
The most spirit shown for a college located elsewhere in California went to Stanford with five volunteers wearing its logo, while the most spirit from an out-of-state college went to University of Michigan, also with five volunteers wearing their logo.
The furthest-away school represented was a volunteer wearing the logo from Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia in Brazil!
Kindergartners at MacArthur Park Elementary coloring before the reading clubs start
(Click on the above image to see it full size)
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DECEMBER 13TH READING CLUBS:
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
Please sign up for the next reading clubs!
Click here to submit your RSVP for our
"Family & The Spirit of Giving" reading clubs on December 13th,
then "join" the
December 13th reading club event on Facebook and invite
your friends!
Santa will be Appearing at these Reading Clubs!
The Pasadena Jaycees are providing our Santa suits for that Saturday!
If you are interested in volunteering for
Operation Santa
and bringing joy to children in need on Christmas Eve,
click here or email them at OpSanta@PasadenaJaycees.org!
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ANNUAL FUND DRIVE UPDATE & LEADERS SO FAR:
DOUBLE YOUR DONATION THIS WEEK!
On Saturday and over the last few days we received another $7,691 from 48 donors towards our 2025 Annual Fund Drive!
The names of the new donors have already been added to our
2025 Annual Fund Drive page, and here are the school competition stats so far:
SCHOOL COMPETITION WINNERS!
Highest percentage of volunteers who donated at the Nov. 8th reading clubs:
1st: Alta Loma (continuing their lead from last month! )
2nd: Esperanza (29%)
3rd: Gratts (28%)
Highest dollar amount raised at the Nov. 8th reading clubs:
1st: Esperanza (continuing their lead from last month!)
2nd: Magnolia
3rd: Politi
Highest percentage of volunteers who have donated overall:
1st: Alta Loma (42%!)
2nd: Gratts and Magnolia (tied!)
Highest dollar amount raised overall:
1st: Esperanza
2nd: Magnolia
3rd: MacArthur Park
All of these Nov. 8th volunteer donations will be doubled or tripled by our matching donors at every school, and their offers still stand!
That's right, you can still double or triple your donation and easily change the above standings by donating this week!
We have so far raised $24,499 from 149 donors!
Our overall goal by the end of the year is to raise $70,000 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
2025 Annual Fund Drive. Contributions of any amount are
greatly appreciated!
2) Show your support by asking friends and family to
contribute!
Visit our
2025 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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FOUR MORE RUNNERS NEEDED
FOR THE 2026 LA MARATHON 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 2026 Los
Angeles Marathon on Sunday,
March 8th!
This is our 12th time running the marathon, and we're looking for four more marathon runners to join us in one of the best marathons in the country.
If that distance 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 7th.
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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FIVE MORE COMPUTERS OR TABLETS WANTED
TO GIVE TO KIDS!
Looking way ahead to our April reading clubs, we would love to give away a computer or iPad/tablet to one lucky kid at each school!
If you or your employer have any working computers that are less than 6 years old running Windows 10 or later, or any Macintosh computers less than 7 years old, or any iPads or similar tablets, we can give them to deserving kids!
We especially need working computers (CPUs), whether or not they come with monitors, keyboards, etc. Please email us at
info@readingtokids.org to help make a kid very happy!
A Charles White Elementary 5th grader with perfect Reading to Kids attendance
leaps for joy after winning a new iPad
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HELP US FIND GRANTS!
Did you know Reading to Kids receives about
half of our funding from corporate and foundation
grants? For example, over the last five years alone
eight of our volunteers helped us receive $160,000 in
grants from their employers!
Please check to see if your employer offers grants
that Reading to Kids can apply to and let us know at
info@readingtokids.org!
You may help us buy thousands of books for kids!
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