Note about MacArthur Park Elementary:
They currently have an interim principal, so we have closed the RSVPs for MacArthur Park.

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.

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

There are two unique ways you can help over the next 8 days:

• Back-to-School Nights (Alta Loma, Esperanza, Politi, & White this afternoon)  
• Classroom Walk-Throughs and/or passing out flyers next Thursday or Friday for an hour or two between 7:30am and 2:30pm

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 more events than the three of us in the office can manage alone, so we'll really need help next week!

We are especially looking for volunteers available from about 1:15 - 2:45 next Thursday or Friday, Sept. 10th or 11th.

It's an exciting experience and we'll provide everything you need. Please reply to info@readingtokids.org or call the office at (310) 479-7455 if you can be an Ambassador for an hour or two!

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
 Spiral notebooks
 Colorful 2-pocket folders
 Colored pencil sets and marker sets
 Pencil pouches
 Glue sticks
 Large erasers
 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? 

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!

14 MORE RUNNERS NEEDED
FOR THE 2027 LA MARATHON,
13.1 MILE CHARITY HALF 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 2027 Los Angeles Marathon or 13.1 Mile Charity Half Marathon on Sunday, March 7th!

This is our 14th time running the marathon, and we're looking for nine more Charity Half Marathon runners (the last 13.1 miles of the course) and two 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 6th.

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.

Did you know you can support Reading to Kids just by shopping at the grocery store or using your credit card?

eScrip and Ralphs both have programs that are NO COST ways for you to donate to Reading to Kids.

All you have to do is call Ralphs or go online and register your grocery cards.  When you use those cards at a participating store or service provider, the store will donate a percentage of your purchases to Reading to Kids! 

Click here for simple instructions on how to sign up or renew! Or, you can call Ralphs Community Contribution Program at (800) 443-4438. Explain you want to register your Ralphs card number and your telephone number. Reading to Kids NPO# is BR278.

Note if you have previously signed up: You have to renew your registration each year on or after September 1st, so please renew again for this year!

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!

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 have a great Labor Day weekend!