Reach Out & Read KC’S 2016: Year in Review

As 2016 draws to a close, we are looking back at some of our favorite memories and awesome volunteers.  Because of all our supporters, Reach out and Read KC was able to accomplish new milestones and reach even more families in 2016.

 

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Our Hooked On Books book drive collected over 24,000 books from 20 elementary schools in 2016.  Here are just a few of our dedicated volunteers helping us sort books!

 

 

 

 

 

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From February 29th through March 4th Reach Out & Read KC celebrated Dr. Seuss week! To honor the late Dr. Seuss, many local celebrities read to children in our clinic waiting rooms! Read more about this fun celebration. (from left to right: Karli Ritter & Mark Alford from Fox4 KC, and Ann Goodrich, a volunteer for RORKC)

 

 

 

 

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On March 4, we held our annual Green Eggs & Ham breakfast.  Here we have Bryan Busby and Neville Miller from KMBC -TV reading to some of our youngest breakfast guests.  This year, because we have something extra special to celebrate in 2017, we are replacing our Green Eggs and Ham event with our 20th Birthday Breakfast! View more information about our 20th Birthday Breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our annual Books on Tap fundraiser took place on October 19th at the 1900 Building.  It was a record- setting success raising over $9,000 for Reach Out and Read KC! This translates into providing over 1,800 books and literacy advice to children in KC.   For more pictures from this fun event, look through our photo album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On December 2nd, 2016, Reach Out and Read Kansas City reached a new milestone for our program.  We delivered our 1 millionth book during this four month old’s well-child visit at the University of Kansas Medical Center Pediatric Clinic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reach Out and Read KC YIRsquarerecently delivered our annual report for the fiscal year 2015-2016.  We had a record breaking year with RORKC providing 83,763 books to children at over 51 clinics.   View the full report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all of our volunteers who made this year monumental for Reach Out & Read KC! Below are only a few of the many who volunteered their time to help our organization succeed.

 

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Want to help Reach Out & Read KC continue to provide books and a foundation for success to over 29,000 children in 2017? Please consider giving a gift this holiday season.

Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive

holiday book driveFrom November 1st to December 31st, help RORKC give children the gift of literacy! Customers at the Town Center Barnes & Noble  are invited to purchase an additional book for Reach Out and Read KC from a selection at the checkout.    Our book coordinator chose the selection to include a variety of books for a range of ages.  These brand new books will be distributed to clinics and provided to children at their well-child visits.

 

Location:

Towns Center Barnes & Noble

4751 West 117th Street

Leawood, KS 66211

Google Map

 

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

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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!

KC Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Donate Books

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On February 25, the Greater Kansas City Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi donated 1,901 books to RORKC as part of a 20,000 book grant from First Book. The Pi Phis have divided these books up and donated them to several local organizations. The organizations are listed in this video.

 

 

The  donation to Reach Out and Read KC includes books for well-child visits, volunteer readers’ book bags, and clinic waiting rooms. Thank you Pi Phi alumnae for your donation and your continued support over the years.

International Book Giving Day

February 14th is not just a day to give candy and flowers to your loved ones–it is also a day focused on encouraging people worldwide to give books to children. International Book Giving Day started as a joint effort between book-lovers in the US and UK in 2012, and it has spread worldwide since then. This year, all of us at Reach Out and Read KC want to make a special effort to celebrate this day, and need your help! Here are three ways you can enjoy International Book Giving Day:

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Read a book with your loved ones. Set aside some time to relax and get comfy with a good book to share with your favorite kiddos. Let us know which book you shared by tweeting us @rorkc!

 

 

Print free bookmarks and bookplates from the International Book Giving Day website.

 

 

Donate to Reach Out and Read KC and we will do the work for you! We will use your donation to order and deliver age-appropriate books for children who visit our clinics for well-child check-ups. Click here to donate, and enter “International book giving day” in the special instructions section. $60 will provide a whole course of books for one child–that’s 15 books!

 

 

The benefits of reading to children are numerous, and we appreciate any and all the work you do to bring about these benefits. We hope you find some time to read and enjoy this year’s International Book Giving Day!

 

 

Salvy the Gold Glove Catcher

salvyOne of our awesome supporters wrote this song for his brother’s school choir and it has become a bit of a hit, so he added a charity on with the song to get our name out there.  Lucky us!

Take a listen and enjoy.

 

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Listen on YouTube