Greetings KNTR friends,
The Christie Cookie $25,000 Charity Giveaway voting is over. Kids Need to Read came in at #32 (votes not finalized), which is really quite astonishing. Although that did not make us a winner of the money offered for the top 12 vote-getting charities, we won in an unexpected way. So many of you took the contest to heart and did your best to get friends and family to help us in this fun challenge. You showed us how deeply committed you are to the important mission of Kids Need to Read. It is a victory to witness that we are not alone in the knowledge that childhood literacy is critical to the well-being of our society.
Our Twitter-geek co-founder Nathan Fillion tweeted to support the battle, which was a super cool surprise. Our non-geeky founder PJ Haarsma tweeted too, but then, he is usually game to do most anything lest I nag him to insanity. (Okay, yes, I have already achieved that!) I had the pleasure of meeting author Lisa McMann (Wake, Fade) at Changing Hands Bookstore (Tempe, Arizona) this past week and she told me she had voted too. Wow! That is amazing! I have had several people tell me about their valiant efforts to contact everyone they could and it has been truly heart-warming to experience. Even my hip, 84-year-old father got on his computer and emailed his many contacts. (Thanks, Dad!) That is beautiful support!
So, KNTR may not have claimed the top spot, but we won in our hearts just because all of you cared so much. It is inspirational when people located all across this country pull together for a cause. Americans truly are among the best at that. Even more awe-inspiring is when citizens of other countries are kind enough to join us as a global community.
Congratulations to the winners of the contest. We know they will put the funds to good use for their worthy causes. Kids Need to Read will continue to work to lead children to success through literacy. We will do it, because we have the help of the most incredible supporters!
Thank you from all of us at Kids Need to Read.
Denise Gary
Executive Director
