Uncharted Territory- Promising Pages Book Fair

                                             A Brave New World

Co-Founder Greg Goeke with a non-baby, baby book

"To give or to sell," that is the question. The idea of selling off some of our books is new territory for us. We know that other non-profit organizations do the same, but for us, it was kind of a tough "sell" to swallow. "I thought Promising Pages gave free books to kids?" said the voice in my head. It's true, we do give free books-- to kids. Then what to do with the nearly 10,000 books for adults that have been clogging our warehouse since this past summer? Do first graders like travel books and Wine for Dummies? I think not.

As much as I knew that this day would come eventually, it wasn't until we partnered up with Woody Hubbard and Tim O' Boyle and their Executive MBA team from Queens University that not only were my fears about selling off some of my books were alleviated, the concept was actually encouraged. "This is a business," they told me firmly. "Do you want your business to grow so you can help more kids, or do you want to keep putzin' along only helping a few kids because you are too afraid to bring in revenue? Revenue is a part of your job."

Sorting for Book Fair

So beginning December 1, I will no longer be the 'starving artist' type, the give-a-few-kids-a-few books type. 40,000 books have come through our warehouse at Carolina Business Interiors since January, but that's not enough. We have orders we can not fill. For example, currently we are out of first and second grade follow up books. Yet we know there are 60,000 kids in our area with few, if any books at home. It's time for me and the rest of the Promising Pages team to get serious, and that means raising money for our organization! Our goal is to collect and redistribute one million books so that all kids in Charlotte can have a bookshelf full of books at home and all children in Charlotte will grow up with a love and appreciation of books, which brings healthy brain activity and healthy self  esteem.

From a business standpoint, the concept makes perfect sense. We are already out there in the community collecting children's books every day. Why not collect all books and sell the ones we can't use for our programs?  Thank you again, Queens team. We have found people are happy to let go of their twice read, taking-up-too-much-space novels when they learn it is going to such a worthy cause.

The Sandbox Co-Founder Mara Campolungo

So folks, clean off your book shelves and donate what you no longer read. Bring those books to our book fair on December 1st and 2nd at the Carolina Business Interior warehouse on Yancey Rd. Bring the kids, we'll have story time with Erm and Erma the Bookworm(a)s. Check out our limited Edition "Magic Reading Totes"gems and turn ordinary books in to Magic Books. (A perfect gift for any young reader!) Browse the Sandbox Boutique and help us support yet another great Charlotte cause (www.gotsandbox.org.) Don't forget to bring in a canned food item or two for The Sandbox Holiday food drive. When you done with all this giving and shopping, refresh your palette with Amalie's French Bakery goodies generously donated to support our cause. Enjoy your new books and sweet treats in our Promising Cafe!

We look forward to meeting you in person. Thank you for supporting our One Million Books Revolution Campaign and for helping us change the world, one child and one book at a time. If you see me, give me a wink. It will be a personal reminder of your support, not only of our book mission, but of the marketing plan that will be driving it. Speaking of driving, take a "spin" and get your picture taken in our Magic Book Mobile, it's just a mock up now but one day soon it will be a reality. I just know it.

                                                     Go forth, buy books and prosper!

-Kristina Cruise
Founder, Promising Pages

Business Leaders of Charlotte Charity Golf Tournament

'Houston, we have funding.' The 8th annual Business Leaders of Charlotte (BLOC) Golf Tournament at the Ballantyne Hotel may not have paralleled the importance of a space mission, but to Promising Pages Founder Kristina Cruise, that's exactly what it felt like. “This is our first opportunity for major funding and will give us a sizable operating budget for the first time in our existence.” Promising Pages came onto the Charlotte non-profit scene 1 year ago this May. Pages' total budget up to this point? A mere $3,000 thanks to a grant from Hands on Charlotte and a donation from Carolina Business Interiors, among others. "This tournament and the generous funding just make it all feel so real," said Cruise as she thanked the participants during a delicious spanish flair dinner provided by Chef Rodolfo from El Molino bakery and catering (rodolfomontero@yahoo.com).  

BLOC was founded in 2001 and has a network of several hundred members. According to their website, “BLOC is an organization dedicated to helping our members grow through business networking opportunities, support for professional development efforts and providing an avenue for members and local businesses to get “plugged into” the community through our various outreach programs and partnerships.” This golf tournament is one of their main outreach programs.

Scott Donaghy lines up to take a shot while
James Anderson and the rest of his foursome look on.  

This year there were 13 non-profits who applied for this opportunity and Promising Pages was chosen among three finalists. According to former BLOC President and Best-In-Tech Founder Scott Donaghy, “We like to choose non-profits which are small and local. We feel BLOC can help in a larger way by partnering with small groups just starting and by keeping the groups we support local.” It's doesn't get much more small and local than Promising Pages. Pages is run by three main volunteers, Cruise, Patricia Ozmeral and Linda Bonerba. Together with the help of others they have collected more than 25,000 kids books and are busy bees as they put them back into the hands of kids in our area who are growing up without books to call their own. 

Helping kids get books to call their own is also the mission of another foundation in the Charlotte area.  Carolina Panthers Linebacker James Anderson and his foundation have donated 4,500 books to children in Charlotte and his native Virginia.  Anderson was the celebrity golfer at the BLOC Charity Golf Tournament.  He is a native of Chesapeake, VA and has been involved with children since his days at Virginia Tech.  Before the tournament Anderson spoke passionately about the kids who have benefitted from his foundation when he said, “It is great to see the look in a kid’s eye when we give them a book. They can’t believe it when they realize they actually get to keep the book.”  We here at Promising Pages share that feeling.

Promising Pages founder Kristina Cruise with
Carolina Panthers Linebacker James Anderson

Even the crummy weather Monday couldn't rain on Anderson's parade, or the pride he felt about getting books into the hands of children. At one point there was a break in the golfing action because of lightning. There were three groups of golfers that parked their carts inside a tunnel along with Anderson. At first every group was attempting to see who could tell the biggest lie about their score. Shortly after this break Anderson sank a putt of about 12 feet on hole number 17. His athletic ability was on display as well when he had a driver in his hand.  He hit the ball a good 20 yards farther than anyone else in his foursome.  It seems his pride doesn't stop at books. 

Another partner of Promising Pages involved in this tournament was Tim O’Boyle, president of Journalbooks, a great marketing tool for any business large or small. O’Boyle is helping Promising Pages through a partnership with Queens University McColl School of Business.  He and a group of MBA Exec Students are writing a business plan for a new program called the One Million Books or OMB Campaign. That's how many books Cruise feels is needed to provide all kids in Charlotte who don't have them with a shelf full of books at home.

According to O’Boyle, “Journal books has always been part of the community and helped many organizations along the way.  Promising Pages seemed like a great fit for us and for BLOC. ” We at Pages look forward to implementing the One Million Book Campaign and we appreciate the funding this golf tournament brought us. 

Michael Barnes current President of BLOC and Vice President of Carolina Connections, Inc was also instrumental in making this opportunity become a reality for Promising Pages.  Barnes was the first person to inform Cruise about the BLOC Charity Golf Tournament and how to apply to be the beneficiary.  Barnes and Cruise met in Charleston, SC at a Charlotte Chamber Retreat. He thought she would be a good fit with BLOC and encouraged her to apply.  

“Kristina was one of three finalists allowed to give a 15 minute pitch on why their non profit should receive funding.  After seeing her presentation Promising Pages was the clear choice.” Barnes said.  This was the beginning of the relationship between Promising Pages and BLOC. This funding makes Promising Pages a real player in the non-profit world.  

The Members of BLOC are mostly small businesses.  In the Charlotte community they sometimes feel like David fighting Goliath in this city full of huge corporations.  Promising Pages sometimes also feels like David fighting against a Goliath which is the fact 60.000 kids in the Charlotte region are living without books.  With the generous help of BLOC, Promising Pages will feel much less like David by having an operating budget for the first time in its short history

Cicily Young dressed as Erma the Bookworm

On behalf of Promising Pages and the thousands of kids we serve we offer our sincerest thank you to BLOC, Ballantyne Resort, James Anderson and all of the sponsors who made this possible. It may be one small step for the BLOC community, but it was one giant leap for Promising Pages.

These were not the only supporters of the tournament. In fact, the list is long and distinguished:


HF Financial                                      The Hatcher Law Group

My Dentists CNP Technologies         Advanced Tech

Bk Bookkeeping On Demand            Hibiscus Graphix

Brian Boswell CPA                           Metlife of the Carolinas

In Good Company                            Best-in-tech

Chef Mike                                         Carolinas Connections Inc.

DiCi Services                                    Cabaret Systems

Difabion Remodeling                         HM Properties

Journal Books                                   Buona Vita Restaurant

John Street Graphics

Exactly how much funding has yet to be made know, but we know it's a BIG number. The full amount will be revealed at the June after-hours at the NC Music Factory.

-Mitchell Sharp

Promising Pages newest supporter, Baby Nate.