March 31 - First Book

"A teacher told us that when she asked her class to bring in a book from home, three of the students brought in a phone book because that was the only book they had."

 Kyle Zimmer -President,   First Book.



In homes in middle income neighborhoods, the ratio of books to children is 13 books for every child.  In low income neighborhoods the ratio is 1 book for every 300 children.


March is National Reading Month so what better way to end the month then by highlighting a great charity working to provide new books to children in need.  First Book provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 80 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities. First Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada.



First Book President, Kyle Zimmer, founded First Book with two friends in 1992 to create an organization dedicated to providing new books to children in need. In that first year, First Book distributed 12,000 books in three communities – they are now proud to deliver more than 18,000 new books on average per day.



With the help of their partners, donors and dedicated volunteers First Book has provided more than 80 million new books to schools and programs serving children in need. Yet millions of children are still waiting for our help. First Book is determined to see that all children, regardless of their economic conditions, can achieve more in school and in life through access to an ongoing supply of new books.


Together we can make a difference in children’s lives. Together we can provide new books and critical resources that elevate the quality of education for children in low-income families.


Get Involved:

Donate to First Book.

Volunteer opportunities with First Book.

Create your own Fundraising Page.

Share

Source:  First Book

November 9 - Teens Making A Difference

One of the greatest joys I have in writing this blog is learning of young people and all of the awesome things they are doing to make a difference!  There are so many wonderful young people out there working hard and unfortunately we don't hear enough about them.  Today I am highlighting 2 awesome sisters...Caitlyn and Maria Toth!

Teens Making A Difference are two teenage sisters who want to increase awareness about local and nationwide community needs.  Their mission is to empower young people to become active with the adults of our communities to make our world a better place. Teens Making A Difference enables people from all over the world to help in various ways. The GOAL is show that it doesn't take alot to make a difference in your community and that as teenagers we have the power to bring about a positive change. One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car we drove, what kind of house we lived in, or how much money we had in the bank. But, the world may be a better place because we made a difference in a child's life!



In June 2010, Caitlyn and Maria started a Facebook group page called "Help Us Help The Gulf Wildlife" to ask for donations of Dawn (blue) Dish Soap to help save countless wildlife affected from the Gulf Oil spill. The donation drive, which ran from mid-June to August 1, 2010 did not seek monetary donations, just the dish liquid, critical to the animal rescue efforts being made by volunteers the Gulf region. Through word of mouth and passing out flyers at the mall, almost 8,000 people from all over the world joined their Facebook group and supported the effort. The donation drive collected over 5,300 bottles of Dawn Dish Soap that will be used to clean the animals. (AWESOME WORK!) They arranged to have a locally-owned logistics company with an 18-wheeler drive the bottles at NO CHARGE to a sanctuary in Florida on August 10, 2010.



Maria and Caitlyn have now caught the philanthropy bug and started a community service campaign called "Teens Making a Difference".   We have partnered with Project Night Night, Parma Education Association, Parma Area Family to Family Collaborative, and Help Me Grow (Ohio) and will be donating new and gently-used books to children to improve reading skills throughout the community. As teen students they realize reading is the very basic skill needed to be successful in school.


The current goal is to get books into the homes of as many at-risk children as possible. They have partnered with several non-profit agencies to supply them with the books that they collect. You can help in so many ways - PLEASE JOIN US!! Help us to get books into the homes of every child possible - NOT every child has their very own book to read.




Get Involved:

Caitlyn and Maria do not accept monetary donations!   DO NOT MAIL MONEY. Any cash or checks received will be returned to sender.  WE ONLY ACCEPT NEW OR GENTLY-USED BOOKS. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE.

PLEASE MAIL YOUR NEW OR GENTLY USED BOOKS TO:

Teens Making A Difference
Caitlyn and Maria Toth
c/o Parmatown Mall
7855 W. Ridgewood Dr.
Parma, OH 44129

PLEASE MARK PACKAGE "NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED"

The US Postal Service has special rates for BOOKS. Be sure to tell the postal clerk that you are mailing BOOKS and that you want them to be sent "MEDIA MAIL."   MUCH CHEAPER!!! Thank you to all who send books!!



FOR LOCAL DONATIONS: (Parma OH area)

Parmatown Mall - Official Dropoff

Next door to American Greetings NEXT to Toys For Tots

Our collection of books will continue throughout the school year with distribution of these books to our various partnered agencies each month.


Caitlyn and Maria....YOU INSPIRE US!  First, helping Gulf Shore animals and now literacy...YOU ARE TRUE HEROES!

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!






Resource:  Teens Making A Difference