Promising Pages' Hot Summer Project!

McColl School of Business

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I am proud to announce Promising Pages’ new partnership! I think it says something great about the Charlotte community when Promising Pages has found so many people and organizations like Second Food Harvest, the Business Leaders of Charlotte (BLOC), and countless schools and church that have assisted, supported, and encouraged us. And our newest partnership is with the Executive MBA program at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte.

This connection began when the McColl School of Business sent out requests for local nonprofits to work with small groups of graduate students over the summer. According to the Executive MBA Director, Nancy McNelis, “We received 13 applications and selected 5 based upon project, diversity of organization and community need. Then all 5 nonprofits presented to EMBA students and they ranked their selection. All students were assigned to their first or second choice.”

When it was time to give the presentation, our Director Kristina Cruise stepped up for the responsibility. Even for such a multi-talented, outgoing woman, deciding to take on this job really showed her dedication to Promising Pages. I am not only referring to her giving a fantastic presentation, but she took her 12 day old son in with her! And her presentation encouraged four students to choose to collaborate with our summer project. Kristina explained the specific details of the project, saying, “They will be partnering to launch our 1 million books campaign. They will be assisting us for the branding and marketing campaign. We will work with the students and staff this summer and we likely roll out the OMB (One Million Books) officially in August. We will ask all businesses, schools and churches and civic groups to participate and collect books for us during a two or three week period between August and the following August.”

A large inspiration for Kristina to apply to the MBA partnership came from some encouraging words from Charlotte Chamber member Stoney Sellars. Kristina tells me, “The OMB campaign started as the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), then Stoney Sellars told me in a meeting on Oct 31st, 2011 that ‘We can do this. This is a supportive community and if you don't see this as a real goal instead of an audacious goal you are missing the point.’”

Kristina took a leap of faith and pursued this goal. In return, Promising Pages now has four dedicated graduate students to help market our journey in collecting 1 million books. Karen, who voted to join the Promising Pages team, has a long history of reading. She loved Dr. Seuss as a child and she tells me now, “I read mostly nonfiction and biographies of people of interest. I also read a lot of articles.” She is a Charlotte native and is a strong supporter of Promising Pages. She says her reason for choosing Promising Pages out of the other nonprofit options was because, “I strongly believe reading is important, and my family reads a lot.” When I asked her what she hoped to accomplish with the summer project, she eagerly replied, “I hope to help contribute to the public's awareness of the program. I feel it is so important to get books in the hands of those who cannot afford them or do not have access to them. Knowledge is so important and one can learn different ways of thinking, behaviors, philosophies, can relate to others, etc. just by reading.” I speak for Promising Pages when I say my hope is that by the time they're done, everyone in Charlotte will know about the likes of Promising Pages, at least that's the goal anyway, a big hairy audacious goal, transformed into reality.

I want to thank all of my viewers for reading my blog. I will be graduating from the School of Arts at Queens in less than two weeks, and this is my last blog. But, don’t worry, our new blogger, Michelle Tabler, will be continuing to write for Promising Pages. If you want to know more information about Promising Pages, visit us at www.promisingpages.com. Again, thank you for reading!  

--Faith Lippard, Promising Pages Blogger  

Big News in Whoville (aka Promising Pages)!



Ballantyne Resort and Golf Club

If Promising Pages was a children’s book universe, it would be the land of Dr. Seuss. Our organization is built on volunteers running around like enthusiastic little Whos. We collect books, meet children, organize warehouses, partner with other organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank, and some of us even dress up in a bright yellow worm costume. And in our Technicolor busy world, Promising Pages is proud to announce our new venture. On May 14^th, Promising Pages will be participating in the 8^th Annual Business Leaders of Charlotte (BLOC) Charity Golf Tournament!

According to their website, “BLOC is the premier business relationship building group in Charlotte. Founded in 2001, we encourage our members to grow professionally and be active leaders in the community. Our membership is a strong group of complementary businesses that includes small, large, start-up and well established organizations. Our goal is to help our members succeed through business networking. We also provide opportunities for professional development and community involvement through our various Outreach programs.” One of these Outreach programs is the Charity Golf Tournament, which helps one nonprofit raise money and awareness for their cause. This year, Promising Pages was chosen for this honor. But, how exactly did this happen?

Michael Barnes, the President of BLOC, was happy to retell the story. He began with some background information about the golf tournaments, which I appreciated considering I knew less about golf charities than a pre-transformed Grinch knows about Christmas spirit. Michael informed me, “This is our 8^thAnnual Charity Tournament and we have donated just over $50,000 from the past 7 tournaments to local nonprofit organizations. Each year we select a local nonprofit to be our beneficiary. We want the money to be impactful for the organization’s mission. We only choose local nonprofits for any of our charity fund raisers. The way it works is this: Money generated from the sale of sponsorships, donations, team registrations and raffle tickets help to provide the donation.”  That means this golf tournament has the potential to be a tremendous financial support for the future of Promising Pages!

Michael became aware of Promising Pages when he first heard our Director, Kristina Cruise, speak at the Charlotte Chamber Retreat in October 2011 when Kristina announced our Big Hairy Audacious Goal of collecting 1 million children’s books by the end of 2012. He says of the initial meeting, “With Kristina’s passion, I was immediately sold that this was a good mission. I knew that they fit our mold perfectly for our fund raising events and I wanted to do everything I could to help.” They have an open application process to be considered for the tournament, and a board of sixteen helps choose the nonprofit. The three organizations with most votes are asked to give presentations. Michael was happy to admit, “Promising Pages was a clear choice for us and Kristina provided a powerful and emotional presentation.”

This brings us back to the present, which is a time of planning and organizing for Promising Pages as we prepare for the golf tournament. From our Whoville of volunteers and interns, two big helpers in the preparations are Witney Stonum and Teresa Pittman.

Witney Stonum is our Volunteer Event Planner who first heard of Promising Pages just this past January from her mother’s friend, who is also a volunteer. Her mother was also the first to spark Witney’s love of reading. Witney fondly told me, “Everyone in my family was a big reader. We would always pick one book to read together over the summer. My sister and I had tons of books, and we would play ‘library’ and set them all up in our rooms and take turns reading to each other.”  Out of her interest in books, she began helping with cleaning and sorting at the warehouse before speaking with Kristina and revealing she had experience in event planning. From there, she was immediately on board to help with the tournament. She is currently helping BLOC find advertising sponsors and donors for the silent auction.

Teresa Pittman

Teresa Pittman, our Creative Director, has been with Promising Pages almost since the very beginning. She first heard of Promising Pages when she met Kristina at a mutual friend’s gathering. Teresa recounts, “Later in the evening, Kristina shared her vision about Promising Pages with me. I was immediately captivated by Kristina and thought to myself, ‘Now this girl is going places.’” She jumped on board only a few months after Promising Pages was formed. As the Creative Director, she created the graphic version of Erm the Bookworm and illustrated the cover of Luckier than the Luckiest. She contributes to marketing as well as giving presentations for Promising Pages and helping network in order to spread the word about our goals.

For the golf tournament, Teresa is helping prepare for the silent auction and has acted as a guest speaker during chapter lunches with BLOC to inform them about the mission, vision, and history of Promising Pages. When I asked her what she hoped the tournament will accomplish for Promising Pages, she replied, “Of course, it goes without saying that we are absolutely honored and excited to be the designated beneficiary of the funding from this year’s tournament. Promising Pages has operated on extremely modest funds, and this generous contribution will greatly benefit the operating budget. For my personal wish, I want to see Promising Pages arrive at an awareness level in which everyone in the greater Charlotte area knows who we are, and where we are going. We have done an outstanding job of educating the masses through countless avenues, but we still need to reach more people. The BLOC tournament will be an excellent resource to help drive us to the next level.”

I encourage all of you reading to participate in this adventure with us. We need players, sponsors, and auction items donated. To learn more about BLOC, visit their website at http://www.businessleadersofcharlotte.com/, and to read more about Promising Pages, visit our site at www.promisingpages.com. In the words of Horton, Dr. Seuss’ beloved animated elephant, “A person is a person, no matter how small.” And a volunteer is a volunteer, no matter their age, level of contribution, or even whether or not they like green eggs and ham. Please support us, tell your friends, and continue to read our blog!

--Faith Lippard, Promising Pages Blogger

Promising Pages' Littlest Bookworm

Kristina reading to her son, Nate

Promising Pages Founder and Director Kristina Cruise may have been named one of Charlotte's 50 most influential Women (read more here: http://mecktimes.com/events/), but the influence she has that means the most to her is the influence of her newborn son. Nathaniel William was born on March 10^th, 2012 at 7:39 pm at 8lbs 12oz. And it seems that ever since Nate has opened up his little peepers, Kristina and his father, Greg Goeke, have been reading to him. That might not come as a surprise from the director of a nonprofit that advocates literacy. But, what exactly has inspired Kristina to read so diligently to her son and, for that matter, to start Promising Pages?  

According to Kristina, "One of my inspirations for Promising Pages came from a guy I carpooled to high school with. His name was Joey Serra. Besides being funny and incredibly witty, he was one of those guys who was just undeniably smarter than the others. One morning, I asked him how he became so smart. His answer went something like this, 'I don't know, but here's what I can tell you: When I was little, my grandmother read to me a lot. Every day in fact. By the time I was three or four, I was reading the newspaper.' I remember thinking to myself, 'I am going to read to my children, a lot.' The impact of that conversation stuck with me all these years."

One of the facts that Promising Pages lives by is that 90% of the brain synapses form before the age of five. Reading to young children is vital to their development and growth. And Kristina doesn’t just treat that fact as a statistic, but is acting on it in her own life.  

Only a small portion of Nate's library

"Although my son is only three weeks old, we have read a lot of books. Knowing what I know about early childhood development, it would be a shame not to mention a bad example if we had it any other way. Anyone who comes to visit Nate knows they have to read him a book. Bringing food is optional although equally appreciated. The books that we read are geared toward babies and toddlers. Titles include Counting Kisses, Cars and Trucks from A to Z and Snuggle Puppy. We also like Jet-Set Babies Wear Wings, by Michelle Sinclair Colman, (a gift from my dear friend Olivia Branch, thank you!) The Poky Little Puppy, a classic from my own childhood, and admittedly one I am borrowing from Promising Pages, also makes the list of favorites. We tried our best to read to baby Nate in utero, but to be honest it only happened a couple of times. You do what you can, but life it busy. Now that he's here, he's so alert for a good portion of the day, despite the fact that newborns are supposed to sleep 19 hours a day. We are in the forming habits stage and although we're not perfect at it yet, reading books and listening to music will be a daily habit. Like Joey Serra, I don't ever want Nate to remember a time in his life that he wasn't reading. Thank you, Joey, for the inspiration."

Kristina and Nate

It is really amazing how a simple conversation on the way to school can inspire someone into creating something as influential as Promising Pages. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I thank Kristina for listening to and remembering the words of her friend from years ago, and dedicating so much of her time so children can be blessed with the gift of a book. I also wish her good luck with the new member of her family. Here’s to hoping she gets some decent sleep before Nate graduates high school.

For more information about Promising Pages and Kristina, visit www.promisingpages.com. Remember to follow our blog, and tune in next Monday for more!

--Faith Lippard, Promising Pages Blogger

Second Harvest Food Bank

Initially, it’s a bit overwhelming. Walking inside the Second Harvest Food Bank is almost like stepping inside a Costco with everything from canned goods to tooth brushes stored in bulk and in towering stacks. There’s even a refrigerated section housing produce and other perishables. But unlike those wholesale warehouse chains, all of the items in Second Harvest will be donated to people in need. According to Second Harvest’s brochure, they serve “almost 650 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, emergency shelters, group homes, food pantries, low income day cares and senior programs in a 19-county area.” Second Food Harvest has also partnered with both Promising Pages and Carolina Healthcare Systems in our “Feed the Body, Feed the Mind” campaign. Carolina Healthcare Systems set up book drop-off boxes in their 300 locations from March 1^st through March 20th. But, where did all of these books go and how is Second Harvest involved?

CHS employees sorting and cleaning books

Second Food Harvest serves the community in many capacities. One of their projects is called the Kids Café Backpack Program where Second Harvest takes their donated canned and either ready-to-eat or easy-to-prepare foods and collects them into drawstring bags to give to children on the weekends who are at risk of being hungry. In some cases, the food they receive at Second Harvest is the only nourishment at their homes for the entire weekend. When our founder, Kristina Cruise, discovered this program, she knew Promising Pages needed to be a part of it. And she was able to collaborate with Second Harvest by incorporating books into the food bags, so children can feed both their bodies and minds simultaneously. Once Kristina discovered we would need nearly thousands of books on a weekly basis to fill these backpacks, having Carolina Healthcare Systems’ help seemed like a good way to drum up the needed numbers. This has been a huge success!  (If you would like a little more background information, read my Carolina Healthcare Systems blog at http://bit.ly/HyJ6Mf).

After the book drive at the drop-off locations was over, Carolina Healthcare Systems sent their eager employees to second Harvest to help us clean, stamp, and sort books. Within a three day period, it was estimated that nearly 200 to 250 CHS employees volunteered. Getting to work and speak with the members of CHS was a pleasure. Marsha Gutkowsai, who works in the finance department of CHS, spent nearly three hours cleaning boxes after boxes of books. She read sporadically as a child, but has garnered a new appreciation for books in recent years. When asked about Promising Pages, she said, “I think the book drive is a great idea. It’s really good to hear an organization is pushing the importance of books and reading.”

Marsha Gutkowsai

Jessica Keever, the Senior Management Assistant, remembers reading constantly in her middle school years. She laughs, a little embarrassed as she recounts reading a romance series about cowboys. Jessica had many books growing up and some of her favorites were the Berenstain Bears series, Green Eggs and Ham, and when she was a little older, Nicholas Sparks’ novels. She was very energetic and excited to help, saying of the campaign, “I think it’s so important what we’re doing when so many kids are attracted to electronics. They’re missing out on having a book in their hands and looking at pictures. Giving kids just a little something like a book is a moment they’ll remember as adults. It could really impact their lives.”

When all was said and done, our “Feed the Body, Feed the Mind” campaign was able to collect 6,583 books! Meaning, we can make a big impact on the lives of many children. Promising Pages would like to give a big thank you to CHS and Second Harvest! If you would like more information about Second Harvest, visit their website at www.secondharvestmetrolina.org. If you want more information about Promising Pages, go to www.promisingpages.com, and tune in next week for the next new blog!    

Thank you CHS!

--Faith Lippard, Promising Pages Blogger