Kansas City Stanford Alumni Host ROR-KC Book Drive

2018 JULY Newsletter ImagesdsdasIs your alumni group, sorority, or fraternity looking for a way to make a positive impact within your community?

 

Consider creating a day of service and hosting a book drive in support of Reach Out and Read Kansas City.

 

DeAngela Burns-Wallace, a Stanford Alumni and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies for The University of Kansas was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to share her book drive story.

 

Each year Stanford encourages their alumni to participate in a national day of service, that way the organization has a positive community influence wherever their alumni go. She searched for a nonprofit that they could provide the most impact.

 

“Because we have a small alumni base in KC area, we looked for an activity that we could organize with a small number of people but have a significant impact.  Reach Out and Read was an ideal partner.”

 

DeAngela believes in the importance of early reading, for her, the good Reach Out and Read Kansas City does is essential to her community.

 

“Reading allows kids to experience so many things, early reading opens up their imagination and possibilities. Supporting early childhood education and especially reading at all ages is key and critical in our society. Reach Out and Read Kansas City helps real families on a daily basis, that was important for us as we looked for a local partner.”

 

Book drives can take many forms, birthdays, school competitions, office events, cocktail parties, no matter the form though, the key to success it is planning and promotion. 

 

“About four weeks prior we began to email alumni in the region asking them to collect age-appropriate books – their own, friends, family, etc.  We used the national day of service called “Beyond the Farm” as the book drop off date. Myself and three other alums set up tables, boxes, and treats to welcome the drop-offs at my home. It was a simple set up but one that allowed alumni to drop off books and go.  We boxed the books on site and delivered over 250 books to Reach Out and Read from the KC area Stanford alumni and our friends. “

 

Small book drives like this make a big difference in the Kansas City community. Thank you DeAnglea and the KC area Stanford Alumni for your continued support! 

 

If you are interested in learning more, head over to our How to Host a Book Drive page for more information.

Thank You Summer Volunteers!

Summer is the busiest time of year for RORKC because our clinics see so many patients! This means that RORKC needs extra help labeling books, collecting gently-used books, and completing other office tasks.  Thankfully, we have had some great volunteers in our office. Check out some of the people and groups we’ve had stop by:

 

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Carrie is a local high school student who volunteered around our office during the entire month of June. She helped with office tasks and book labeling. Thanks Carrie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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These 3 students from Northwest Missouri State-Kansas City Campus created over 300 of our kindergarten book bags! These bags include important information about beginning school & how to register for Kindergarten. Thank you!

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Primrose Explorer Camp 6-2017 (8)

Thank you to the  Primrose Adventure Club! These campers volunteered their afternoon to help label  hundreds books for us.

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UMKC Medical Students held a book drive for RORKC this summer, collecting a ton of new and gently used books for our partner clinics. Thank You!

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J-Camp 7-2017 (7)

 

These campers, from the Jewish Community Center J-Camp, volunteered their morning to help label books.  You guys are awesome!

 

 

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Thank you to all of our summer volunteers!

Hooked On Books Challenge 2017 Was a Huge Success!

IMG_0666This year, the Hooked On Books Challenge collected over 24,000 gently used books from   20 elementary schools on both sides of the state line and Rainy Day Books.   Congratulations to Manchester Park Elementary, from the Olathe School District, for collecting the most books, an average of 12 books per student! These gently used books will be distributed throughout our partner clinics and other literacy agencies.

 

 

 

On March 25th, 52 volunteers joined us at the Kansas City Star to help sort books. Each book was labeled with a “Hooked On Books” Sticker and sorted into an appropriate reading level category.

 

Over 11,000 books will be sent to RORKC’s partner clinics for children in the waiting rooms.  The rest were donated to other great Kansas City organizations, such as the Urban Scholastic Center, COR Bookmobile, KCK Public Libraries and more.

 

 

 

 

 

Cerner Sat 4-2. 5

 

A special thank you to the 20 Junior League of Kansas City volunteers for their help sorting and labeling books, to The Kansas City Star for storage and printing, and to the 18 Cerner volunteers for helping us deliver these books to the great organizations. Thank you to all that helped us make this year’s Hooked On Books Challenge a success!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give Books, Win Books: Hold a Giving Tuesday Book Drive

Reid Waldman 7-2016 (1)

 

We are turning Giving Tuesday upside down by giving you the chance to win one of two gift cards from Barnes & Noble. Between now and Nov. 28, host a gently-used book drive benefiting Reach Out and Read KC and be entered to win a $20 or $30 gift card from Barnes & Noble.

 

Reach Out and Read KC creates literacy-rich waiting rooms in each of our partner clinics from book donations.    Schools, family gatherings like Thanksgiving, workplaces, and churches are perfect places to collect books.

 

To qualify for the contest, donations must be a minimum of 25 books and delivered to   the RORKC office by November 28th.  The two winners will be announced on Giving Tuesday, November 29th.

 

If you are unable to host a book drive, please consider participating in our virtual book drive or make a donation. 

 

Guidelines for Book Drives:

New or gently used books that are clean, readable, and have intact covers

Books for young children (birth to five)

No Religious Books

No chapter or adult books

 

Recommendations:

Picture Books

Bilingual or Spanish books

Board Books

 

Books must be delivered to our office:

KU Med Support Services Facility

2100 W. 36th Ave, Suite 116,

Google Map

Monday-Friday, 8:30-3

 

Dine at 39 Rainbow Restaurants to Benefit RORKC

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Dine at select 39th and Rainbow Blvd restaurants during the month of July and RORKC will receive a portion of the proceeds. Eateries include Five Guys Burgers and Fries, topp’d pizza and salads, IHOP, Subway, and Pita Pit (to open in late July).

Google Map for 39 Rainbow

Also, bring your new or gently used book donations to the 39th and Rainbow Holiday Inn Express lobby for our month-long book drive!

See the Facebook event

Thank you to LANE4 property group and Page Communications, as well as our neighbors at 39Rainbow for making this happen!

Hooked on Books Donations Benefit Local Agencies

HOB Sorting 40  This year’s Hooked On Books Challenge collected more than 24,000 gently used books to be redistributed to kids who need them throughout our community. 19 area schools participated in the annual book drive during January and February. All the books were sorted and distributed in March.  Almost 10,000 books went to waiting rooms in  Reach Out and Read’s 52 partner clinics.  The rest were distributed to local agencies including W.E.B. Dubois Learning Center, The Urban Scholastic Center, The Upper Room, Literacy Kansas City, and several schools in KCK.

41 volunteers joined us over two Saturdays in March to sort 250+ boxes of books by age/reading level, repackage them, and load them onto pallets and trucks for distribution. A special thank you to the Junior League of Kansas City for their help with collection and sorting; to the Kansas City Star for printing and storage; and to Vanguard Packaging for providing boxes. Thanks also to Serve KC, Cerner, and our all of our wonderful community volunteers for donating your time and muscle!

Hooked on Books 2016 Winner Announced

Our winner for the 2016 Hooked on Books drive is Clear Creek Elementary School! They collected 6711 books,
for an average of 13.4 books per student.

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(Photo Courtesy of Taylor Kelly)

Hooked on Books is our annual city-wide book drive and friendly competition between schools. It originated 17 years ago as a joint initiative of the Junior League of Kansas City and the KC Star. Reach Out and Read KC adopted the program in 2010, and it has continued to be a successful book collection program over the years.

 

The winning school is determined by the ratio of books collected per student, and the winning school receives bragging rights, a $500 gift certificate courtesy of RORKC and Scholastic Books, a celebration assembly, and a teacher gift basket courtesy of California Pizza Kitchen. All participants receive a bookmark and a coupon for a free kid’s pizza at California Pizza Kitchen.

 

This year, we had 19 schools and Rainy Day Books collect a grand total of 24,033 books that will be given to RORKC clinics as well as multiple local nonprofits and schools. With the help of the Junior League of Kansas City and the KC Star, we will be sorting and distributing these books to local agencies during the month of March.

 

Hooked on Books Mouse Logo jpgCongratulations to Clear Creek Elementary, and thank you to all the schools and volunteers who helped us with this year’s Hooked on Books school book drive!!

 

 

 

 

 

Hooked on Books Volunteers Needed

Hooked On Books collection day is Tuesday, February 23, from 9am-2pm. We are looking for volunteers with strong backs for lifting boxes of books and large vehicles for transporting them (up to 20 copypaper sized boxes at a time.) Volunteers will be assigned to pick up books at schools located throughout greater KC (from DeSoto to the West, Overland Park to the South, Raymore to the East, and Smithville to the North,) and deliver them to the KC Star loading dock in the Crossroads.

Contact us for details.

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We’ve got boxes full of books!

 

We also need help on Saturday, March 12 from 9am-3pm and Saturday, March 19 9am-noon at the KC Star when we label, sort, and pack up our “Hooked on Books” books.

Click here to sign up for a 3 hour shift.

 

Hooked on Books 2016 is Underway!

Hooked on Books is back for 2016!

Between January 11 and February 19, schools throughout the metropolitan area will collect new and gently used books for disadvantaged children ages newborn to 14. The books will then be redistributed to schools and other nonprofit organizations.

All students at participating schools receive a bookmark and coupon for a free kids pizza at California Pizza Kitchen, and the winning classroom is entered into a drawing to win a pizza party from CPK, along with bragging rights, and a $500 gift certificate from Scholastic Books! Winners will be announced at our annual Green Eggs and Ham breakfast on March 4.

There is still the chance to get involved! If you would like to volunteer as a school liaison, contact Jenny at Jhorsley@kumc.edu. For nonprofit organizations and schools serving at-risk children, apply to be a book recipient. For further information, visit our event page.

Holiday Party Book Drives

party‘Tis the season for holiday parties! If you are hosting a party and would like to encourage the spirit of giving, consider having a holiday party book drive: Have your guests bring one or more kids’ books to donate to Reach Out and Read KC.

 

 

 

Thank you to our fantastic supporters who have already donated!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pathfinder Elementary Kids Helping Kids

Students and teachers at Pathfinder Elementary in Platte County celebrated International Literacy Day on September 8 by dressing as their favorite book characters and started the day with a building-wide D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) time. Coinciding with the event, Student Ambassadors organized a service project and collected 344 new and gently used books for Reach Out and Read Kansas City. Thank you, students, and an extra special thanks to Jamie Davis, Reading Specialist at Pathfinder Elementary, for suggesting RORKC to benefit from your school’s book drive. Your generosity has helped stock our clinic waiting rooms and made some other children very happy.  Pathfinders Elem Book Drive 9-2015 (compressed)

Reading Challenge Accepted at Meadowlane Elementary

ROR-KC book coordinator, Janice Dobbs, joined KC Chiefs Hall of Famer, Will Shields and students from Meadowlane Elementary to celebrate 157 students meeting the challenge to spend time reading daily for 200 days. They also shared their love of reading by donating 1000 books to Reach Out and Read!

Meadow Lane-2015-5th graders with books (1)