By Denise Gary
Photography © Anie Miles
I have found that working for good and having fun always seem to go hand in hand. That was certainly true recently when artist Bianca Thompson put together a great fundraiser for KNTR at Castles N’ Coasters on a beautiful, sunny Phoenix, Arizona day! Justice League Arizona members (and a lone Mando Merc) were on hand to make kids smile.
Lots of comic book prizes by some of Arizona’s top artists were raffled by the organizers and Ross Demma sold a special art print to benefit KNTR.
Folks had a fantastic time singing and dancing with Paradigm Karaoke and DJ Services.
Lots of artists and vendors were on hand to round out the event.
Of course, we were there handing out buttons, Highlights and Highlights High Five magazines, Cricket magazines, and Cicada magazines to the kids. We even gave KNTR calendars to everyone who entered the raffle, so everyone came away with a prize. We thank Highlights for Children and Carus Publishing for providing their engaging magazines to Kids Need to Read. Kids ALWAYS want to read them!
Kids and adults enjoyed leaving their marks on a special Kids Need to Read doodle board, which is now proudly displayed in our office.
Even the artists came over to draw on the doodle board, including Brian Augustyn.
And then there was the Justice League Arizona members (and the Mando Merc) dancing to YMCA – a moment not to be missed!
Wait! That was not the end of JLAZ hijinks! There was also the merry-go-round!
Thank you to all the folks who came out to support the Comics N’ Coasters event! It was great fun just to be there, plus the participants raised $188 for KNTR. We appreciate all of them so much – Bianca Thompson, Leyla Forrest, Paradigm Karaoke and DJ Services, Cara Nicole, Justice League Arizona, Mando Mercs, Gotham City Comics & Coffee with Brian Augustyn, Cooper A. Bolton, Ross Demma, Jean-Paul Manzanares, Nick Pace, Denny Michael Riccelli, T.R.I.B.E, and photographer Anie Miles.
Thank you for supporting our work on behalf of childhood literacy!
Raffle Prizes donated by:
Brian Augustyn
Andy Bohn
Ross Demma
Raven Gregory
Jolene Houser
Ready Comics
April Grady Reyna
Shelby Robertson
Bianca Thompson
T.R.I.B.E
Alfred Trujillo
Photo Gallery: Comics N’ Coasters
