Where Do The Books Go?

Erma Helps with Open House

My best friend came to volunteer at the Promising Pages warehouse for the first time last week. As I was showing her around, she was astounded by the thousands of books we have received as donations. “What do you do with all these books?” She asked me. What a great question—I’m glad she asked! 

Promising Pages' claim-to-fame is the Magic Book Parties we host at TItle 1 elementary schools and shelters around the Charlotte area. At each party, children receive a book of their own, and receive several more when we follow up. But what we give away at Magic Book Parties is not even a scratch in our supply, and as our Founder Kristina Cruise says, “These books aren’t doing us any good sitting in our warehouse.”

This week, Promising Pages hosted two Open Houses for teachers, site coordinators, and directors of organizations in the Charlotte area that work with high risk children who likely do not have books at home. This gives other organizations the ability to use our warehouse as a resource, getting our books back out into the community where they are most needed.

Community Partners and Volunteer Kim Plyler (R)

It’s as simple as serving high risk kids,  signing up for a time slot days and bringing some empty boxes. The Open House allows representatives to take as many 10 books for each child they serve, absolutely free. We were able to give away over 7,000 books this week to some great organizations that can help us spread the love of reading to kids in Charlotte. Each book comes stamped with the Promising Pages logo, and has the potential to change a child’s life. Please follow us on Facebook for our next Open House Date if you are interested in getting books or helping run the event. We are 100% volunteer so every hand counts!

-Carley Foster, #readysetread 

MLK Day of Service: 5,000 Wrapped Books!

Kendall and Cory busy wrapping books

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?” This was the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on January 19, 2013. On this Saturday, 3,000 volunteers came together to answer that question by volunteering at Harding University High School and East Mecklenburg High School where Promising Pages was setup to wrap 5,000 brand new children's books. 

Some children are not so fortunate to have the abundance of books available to them. That is why as a part of Promising Pages One Million Book Revolution (OMBR), we offered these books to be wrapped to eventually be given to less fortunate children in hopes to bring a smile to their faces while providing them with knowledge to nurture them as they grow. The Martin Luther King Service Event at East Mecklenburg High School and Harding University High School was sponsored by Hands on Charlotte. Eric Law and Bob Young form Hands on Charlotte led the volunteer activities at East Mecklenburg High School and Harding University High School respectively.

A group of volunteers posing for the camera

The event was such a great success and it would not have been without the help of our vigorous volunteers. Promising Pages was assisted by the East Mecklenburg H.S IB program student volunteer leader Yascara Chavez kept everything running smoothly. At both locations, cutting stations were setup on one side where some people cut out wrapping paper to hand to people at the wrapping stations where the books were wrapped, tapped and labeled. US Airways DO CREW were present at the event and had a nifty setup of their own. Sheryl cut out the wrapping paper and passed it on to her coworkers Lecko, Cary and Ray who then wrap the books and passed it on to Kelsey to Label. The DO CREW team does a lot of volunteer work in and around Charlotte. Janna Simmons of AmeriCorps was also a big help. When asked about her favorite book she answered, “Harry Potter” and she said she prefers to read the book as opposed to watching the movie because the movies are never as good.  

We had a tremendously helpful group from TARGET, led by Therese Roberts, Executive Team Leader. They alone wrapped and filled several bins with over 200 books in each. 6 year old twins, Kendall and Cory wrapped tons of books, saying “This is actually fun.” we had a father and his 8 year old son, who wrapped well over 100 books in 3 hours. 

An astounding 5000 books were wrapped for Promising Pages at East Mecklenburg High School and Harding University High School! This makes this by far and wide our most successful volunteer event to date.  It would not have been possible if Marcel Solomon, HOC volunteer coordinator, had not strongly encouraged us to get the books, cleaned, stamped, bagged, and ready to be picked up by him and his Americorp volunteers. We also want to thank Link Garland, of Earth Fare Ballantyne for providing Promising Pages with the 100 donated bags. And finally, a big thanks to our interns and volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without them.

As one of the many service events dedicated to this day, we go on to prove that the hard work of Martin Luther King Jr. was not in vain and he will continue to be remembered all over the country.                                          

Feeding the Mind while Feeding The Body

            Almost any student can tell you it’s difficult to study on an empty stomach. Fueling the body is essential to its overall functioning, after all. But what if you didn't have any snacks to help you study? What if you didn't have any food to eat at all? Hunger is a harsh reality for many children among us. The Backpack Program goes a long way to help the many students in the Charlotte and surrounding area, who rely on school lunch as their primary diet. It's a bigger problem than you might think. In fact, Second Harvest provides food for more than 1,600 backpacks a week that go out to kids in a 15 county area.  The Backpack Programs hopes to combat that by providing students in need with healthy snacks and food to last them until they come back to school on Monday.

            Last week I had the opportunity to meet with members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System Elementary Staff to discuss the organization’s involvement with the Backpack Program. We know that if children don't have enough to eat over the weekend they likely will not have a shelf full of age appropriate books at home. So why not include one of our books in each of these backpacks? Not just one book, but a new book every week! It's like a happy meal toy!  We believe that fueling the mind should go hand and hand with fueling the body.

          This isn't our first crack at it.  Last August, Promising Pages began a similar Backpack program with the Matthews Help Center and our books continue to be place into 60 backpacks that go out every single week. We also partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank and Carolinas Health Care System to put books in all 1,600 of those backpacks as part of our Feed the Body Feed the Mind Campaign. 

          Albemarle Road Elementary will be our pilot school for our latest Backpack Program and with your help we plan to expand throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg in the future.  You never know if that next book you give us will end up inside one for these very special backpacks. 

-Carley Foster

Working Together to End the Cycle of Poverty

It’s been two years this month since Promising Pages formed a partnership with Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte to bring books, smiles, and hope to children in our community. Our first ever volunteer was Michele Smith of Huntersville. Together Michele and Kristina wrapped 300 books at her home and took them down to Crisis where there were gone in an astonishing. "2 hours." It took Kristina and Michele 3 weeks to collect those books and get them ready. It was then Kristina new something bigger needed to be done to help these children have more access to ownership of books.
 During those two years we have distributed thousands of children’s books to kids and families who find themselves in need of Crisis’ services. In addition to financial education and assistance, Crisis also provides clothing, furniture, and household appliances to families experiencing poverty in the Charlotte area. According to Nicole Pulliam, a Promising Pages volunteer who also volunteers with Crisis, “Crisis' mission is to educate the public about the harsh realities of poverty, provide financial counseling, and try to if not eradicate the number of people and/or families suffering economic hardships.”

Smith Wrapping for Crisis 1/11

“Sounds like a great organization,” you might say, “but what does it have to do with Promising Pages?” I think Nicole says it best: “Crisis, with its task of providing the educational tools to improve area families' (adults) financial stability, and Promising Pages fostering the philosophy that through increased literacy the newcomers (children) will have the tools necessary to end the cycle of illiteracy in some families and become successful in life by obtaining higher levels of education that will equip them to compete within our ever changing job market.” Our work at Crisis usually only lasts about 45 minutes to an hour at a time, but the impact that it has on everyone involved is astounding. Oftentimes families experiencing financial crisis have immediate concerns that need to be addressed: whether they will have food on the table that night or if their heating might be turned off, for example. It’s understandable that books for their children might not be their first priority. However, it is still a very important one, and this is where Promising Pages comes in. By having the opportunity to introduce a book into a child’s life, a book that they might not be getting otherwise, kids can develop a love of reading that extends beyond the classroom’s requirement and can propel those children to be successful later in life. “For many children we meet this is their first exciting experience in association with a book,” says Promising Pages founder Kristina Cruise. Likewise, by Crisis offering financial assistance to those families in need, they have more time and energy to focus back into their family. The circle this generates has the potential to become strong enough to break the cycle of poverty.

John, The first boy we gave a book to

Sometimes, though, our efforts hit a road block. Consider this story from Kristina: “One little girl refused our present because she "didn't like books and didn't like reading." She was 8. At first I was shocked and depressed but then I realized that we have to work harder because there are other little boys and girls that have not yet tuned that very dark corner. Maybe if we would have gotten to her a little bit sooner. I know in my heart what her life will look like in 10 and 20 years and it's was sad. She now serves as my inspiration to work more stead-fastly because every day our books are helping other kids from eventually feeling the way she felt that day.” I felt this story was worth mentioning because it really shows that there is an incredible need for the books we collect to be redistributed into our community. If we can reach children with these books early enough, before they have time to “fall through the cracks,” there’s no limit to the difference we could make.

As a fairly new member of Promising Pages, my first experience with Crisis happened back in December. It was one thing for me to be told about all the great experiences our volunteers have had working with Crisis, but it was quite another to stand in that waiting area and see it for myself. I remember that upon first walking in, I noticed a lot of sad faces in that room. Most kids could have cared less about a guy dressed up in a bright yellow suit leading a group of people holding huge canvas bags through the crowd. However, the mood in the entire room changed what everyone realized what we were doing there. Kids were laughing, racing back to their families with their new books. Some of the bolder children even came back and asked if we had any books they could have for siblings back home. 

            If you are still interested in the impact of our work with Crisis, please check out this post from July: http://promisingpages.blogspot.com/search?q=the+girl+in+the+waiting+room

Or, you can do us one better and sign up to volunteer. www.promisingpages.com/volunteer. Like Kristina says: “It's honestly hard to describe or do it justice in words. It's just a feeling that you know you are a part of something very, very special.”

--Carley Foster, #readysetread 

Calling All High Schoolers!

After an overwhelmingly successful summer 2012 high school internship program, that even landed us the cover of Society Charlotte Magazine, we have decided to expand our effort and double if not triple the program for the summer of 2013. If you know a high schooler who is interested in having an incredible experience giving back to his or her community in a direct fashion, please encourage him or her to apply for our hands-on internship program. Interns will follow those books from intake, through the warehouse where they are sorted, cleaned, stamped, wrapped and labeled, all the way to putting that book into a child's hand and reading one-on-one with them. We expect quite a large and competitive application pool so don't delay, apply today!



http://www.promisingpages.com/News

The Community Baby Shower

      Promising Pages is a unique non-profit organization. This organization is regularly known for its consistency for working with other organizations such as businesses, schools, and churches. My fellow interns and I were able to participate at the Park Church Ministry on East Independence Boulevard in Charlotte, NC.  The Park Church was putting together a community baby shower for expecting mothers. From my own opinion, I never knew something like this was able to be conducted for many mothers who live in Charlotte. The Park Church made sure to educate and inform new mothers on what to expect and what precautionary steps to use when bringing a new child in to this world.  I was blown away by how much was put in to this community baby shower. Everything you could think of that you would need for a baby shower was there. I remember seeing an financial advisor to assist the mothers. I was more thrown back that we were able to be part of such a special event.

      Brennan who is one of the interns (picture to the right) had managed our showcase at one of the tables. You can see in the picture that she is playing Erma the Book Worma. This is our main mascot that helps us promote to children that it is awesome to read. Promising Pages generates that reading = smart, and smart= being successful. This is specifically used to show people who we are and what Promising Pages is about. We all helped to place wrapped baby books neatly on the table. Once the day came to an end we were able to give all of the baby books away.

      Sandrine and I managed the children’s room. We set up our table with unwrapped books for the older children to be able to choose their own books. Most of the older children around the ages of 10-12 were more excited about receiving a book then the younger children. After Sir Purr made his grand entrance the children were then able to settle down. And finally Erma the Book Worma was able to form a corner in the room and began to read to the children. She read the Duck for President. All the children were very attentive and listened to the story. Erma was so animated and enjoyed reading to the children and Sir Purr.

          By the end of the event we dwindle down and were able to give away 485 books at the Community Baby Shower. We only had 15 unwrapped books left. I feel that we did a great job as a group. We enjoyed ourselves and this experience was rewarding for all of us.



--Rasheeda Mickle

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