By Lori Cothrun
Photographs © Lori Cothrun and Denise Gary
Kids Need to Read was fortunate to be chosen as the recipient of several book and supply drives at the end of 2014. To wrap up the year, we worked with Chase Bank and Barnes & Noble Booksellers as they encouraged staff and customers to support us with thoughtful giving.
Several sites of local Chase Bank branches and support buildings worked hard to spread the word to their employees as they collected donations. They brought in a huge amount of office supplies, used and new books, and our personal favorite (after the books, of course), reading buddies.
There were so many books that it took several weeks of work with volunteers to sort, price, and shelve them all. At this time, the entire Chase donation has been put into the hands of worthy schools and organizations.
Oh wait, did we mention the huge box of binder clips? What a fun discovery!
It is no secret that the staff and volunteers of Kids Need to Read are big fans of Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Due to this continually evolving relationship, Kids Need to Read hosts book fairs, partners on events, works with authors, benefits from gift wrapping fundraisers, and receives generous donations of books during the Holiday Book Drives.
We began a new relationship with Barnes & Noble at Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix, Arizona. Our plan was to place donated books into the hands of students at the Paradise Valley Unified School District Title 1 schools. During the holiday months, Barnes & Noble Desert Ridge was able to collect and donate 2,250 books with the help of Kids Need to Read.
Books were distributed during their district-wide literacy events.
Due to the generosity of Highlights for Children, Kids Need to Read also donated 7,827 Highlights magazines to the title one Kindergarten through Fifth grade classrooms of Paradise Valley schools. One very excited teacher told us that their students never receive anything and do not have anything to read at home. She very nearly wept over the magazines. Thank you to Jared and the staff at Desert Ridge for this wonderful new relationship and for introducing us to the fantastic students at PVUSD!
That brings us to our friends at Barnes & Noble located at Chandler Mall in Chandler, Arizona! Every year the holiday book drive becomes bigger and better, and 2014 was no exception. We were overwhelmed with joy as boxes of books just kept coming!
In the end, they collected 3,449 books which Kids Need to Read is already giving to excited children at appreciative schools and organizations!
We are also very grateful to Barnes & Noble Dana Park in Mesa, Arizona for providing Kids Need to Read with a wealth of gift wrapping fundraiser days! We had so much fun wrapping store purchases for donations and the bookseller’s patrons were extremely generous. Together with gift wrapping at the Chandler and Desert Ridge locations, Kids Need to Read raised over $1,400 through this joyful fundraising initiative.
Of course, Highlights and Highlights High Five magazines were provided to the excited children, as well as KNTR program information to the adults. We were sure to keep everyone engaged or reading while they waited to have their treasures wrapped!
Thank you to all of our supporters, Chase Bank, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, and Highlights for Children for advocating our mission through your actions!
