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Reading to Kids News
August 20, 2026
 

Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,

Great news - we have opened 14 more volunteer spots for our September 12th "Arts & Imagination" reading clubs! stars icon stars icon

Poster for the September 12th reading clubs, colored in by a kid

If you know you can join us that morning, please sign up at www.readingtokids.org before they all fill up!

If all of our reader spots are filled by the time you see this, please keep checking back! People often realize they need to cancel or the schools tell us they expect more kids, which opens up new spots.

Note about MacArthur Park Elementary:

They currently have an interim principal, so for now we have closed the RSVPs for MacArthur Park. We will email all recent MacArthur Park Elementary volunteers if we get to open the RSVPs for the Sept. 12th clubs.

For our September 12th reading clubs we encourage you to volunteer at any of Reading to Kids' other schools! For a map of all of our school sites, click here.

STEP UP TO A BIGGER VOLUNTEER ROLE
NEXT MONTH

Food and bagel runner Jami Olson with his 160th reading clubs Milestone Certificate at Magnolia Elementary

Yesterday we posted on our Facebook page and Instagram photos of several volunteers who earned milestone certificates for every 10 reading clubs they attended. Above is Food and bagel runner Jami Olson with his 160th reading clubs Milestone Certificate he earned at Magnolia Elementary on August 8th! stars icon stars icon

BE LIKE JAMI!

We are always looking for experienced volunteers to take on more leadership with us by checking in volunteers as they arrive, helping train new and returning volunteers, being a GLC, Food Runner, Bagel Runner, 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!
email icon

Or, if you want to help in other ways (Curriculum, Marketing, etc.), consider joining our Taskforce.

_______________________________________________

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUPPLIES
WANTED FOR 2027

3rd graders with their blue Back to School supplies bags

We gave so many school supplies to each kid who attended our August reading clubs that we need to re-stock for next August!

To make that happen, we need your help purchasing from our Amazon wish list items, including blue bags for the kids to carry home their school supplies next year!

The above wish list indicates the priority of the items we are hoping to receive from you, and it will update automatically to show only those items we still need.

Here's how it works:

  1. Order an item (or a few!) from our Amazon Wishlist at
    https://a.co/0h3CUwdv.

  2. Download and fill out our quick In-Kind Donation Form with your information and what you ordered.

  3. Email the form to us at info@readingtokids.org

  4. We'll send you a personalized thank-you letter / charitable giving receipt for your records!

(The In-Kind Donation Form helps us keep accurate donation records and provides you with documentation for tax purposes.)

The above directions are also provided at this micropage link at
https://micro.page/4a2605a2:

For those who prefer to shop back-to-school sales in physical stores, or if you happen to have the following lying around, these are the specific items we are looking for:

NEW
checkbox icon Spiral notebooks
checkbox icon Colorful 2-pocket folders
checkbox icon Colored pencil sets and marker sets
checkbox icon Pencil pouches
checkbox icon Glue sticks
checkbox icon Large erasers
checkbox icon Mechanical pencils (especially "fun" ones)

Stores such as Office Depot, Staples, and Target are still promoting great back-to-school specials. If you're going to be there anyway, why not pick up a folder or ten for the kids? stars icon

Please email us at info@readingtokids.org or call us at (310) 479-7455 if you have purchased for us any of the items on our wish list or have any supplies to donate!

_______________________________________________

READING TO KIDS AMBASSADORS
NEEDED TO PROMOTE US FOR
THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR!

Two Reading to Kids volunteers with our sign at a school literacy event

With the 2026-27 school year launched, we already have many opportunities for you to help us promote Reading to Kids at our partner schools as a Reading to Kids Ambassador. calendar icon

There are two unique ways you can help:

  • Back-to-School Nights (five over the next two weeks!) clock icon
  • Classroom Walk-Throughs the week of Sept. 7th

We'll supply everything you need, including what to say at the Back-to-School Nights. Although it's great if you can speak Spanish (even a little), all our parent materials are bilingual, and there's always someone who can translate for you at the school.

These events set the course for the rest of the year and are a wonderful way to interact with the kids, parents, and teachers. There are always more events than the three of us in the office can manage alone, so we'll really need help!

If you can be an Ambassador, please e-mail us at info@readingtokids.org or call (310) 479-7455.
_______________________________________________

LOOKING AHEAD: MAGICIANS NEEDED FOR OCTOBER 10TH READING CLUBS

Magicians Dominie Apeles and Charles Cisneros performing at MacArthur Park Elementary

At our October 10th "Magic & Monsters" reading clubs we also want to have magicians perform at each of our seven schools!

If you or someone you know possesses the powers of magic and illusion, please contact us at info@readingtokids.org as we are looking for more magicians! email icon

_______________________________________________

PLEASE HELP US FIND
MORE BINGO PRIZES & AUCTION ITEMS

Drag Queen Bingo!

Our next Legendary Bingo fundraiser at Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood will be on Wednesday, October 21st. Please help us gather new prizes for auctions and bingo winners that night!

To help you get started, here is information about Reading to Kids to share with potential donors, as well as a donation form for them to complete.

We especially enjoy awarding gift certificates, amusement park and theater tickets, gift bags, and autographed items! Anything unique is great, too!

If you work at or have a connection with products or services to offer, please help us by asking for a donation to our events.

You may have gift cards you haven't used which would make excellent prizes if you'd like to donate them to us! E-mail us at info@readingtokids.org to arrange mailing them to us!

_______________________________________________

SEVEN COMPUTERS OR TABLETS
WANTED TO GIVE TO KIDS!

Looking way ahead to a future reading club, 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!

iPad winner at Charles White Elementary
A Charles White Elementary 5th grader with perfect Reading to Kids attendance
leaps for joy after winning a new iPad
_______________________________________________

Thanks, and we hope you can sign up to read with us on September 12th!

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)
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/readingtokids.org
www.instagram.com/readingtokids

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

SEPTEMBER 2026
Reading Club RSVPs
School RSVPs Capacity
Alta Loma 29 29
Esperanza 27 33
Gratts 19 22
Magnolia 22 27
Politi 33 33
White 29 29
TOTAL 159 173
SEPTEMBER 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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