2 Crazy Years!

           Two years ago today I was nervous wreck. May 2, 2011 marks the day when Promising Pages officially hit the Charlotte scene with the launch of "Books and Basics," a dual school supply and book drive in conjunction with Classroom Central. Our small team had spent the previous couple of months programming and planning while I had spent the previous several years dreaming of the then unnamed concept when suddenly, and not a moment too soon, Promising Pages became real and open to the Charlotte public.

Original "Books and Basics" Flyer

           The momentum over the past 24 months has been nothing short of a amazing to watch and incredible to be a part of. Books and Basics not only collected a then astounding 5,000+ books thanks to the 50 businesses that partnered with our fledgling mission, but May brought us even larger accolades including the birth of our Erma the Book Worma mascot, our Signature Magic Book Party, and a Charlotte Observer article that to this day keeps me going when the going gets tough.

             If you would have told this reporter 10 years ago I would become an early literacy advocate swimming in endless second-hand books at a donated South End warehouse, pioneering a smaller-than-needed staff of volunteers and interns on a shoe string budget with a baby strapped to my hip I would have laughed...and probably cried! But nothing, nothing has brought me more joy and translated to more fundamental change than what this grassroots organization offers to the community, and hopefully one day the world.

             I've always been up front about the fact that I was never literary nut growing up. I had my ordinary shelf full books at the end of the childhood hallway that I mostly took for granted, and I somehow made it though AP english in high school.  The truth is, I don't really care all that much about the books themselves. What I care about is the kids who get them and the profound impact these books have on their lives and their subsequent futures. These seemingly ordinary pages in conjunction with our programs are making such a quantifiable differences in their lives that I would have been a fool not to become a born-again book lover.  Every book that we get donated to us is filled with love from the donor who previously owned it and filled with hope for the child who will soon receive it as a special present. Our books and book parties are bridging brain synapses and building self esteem in ways we can't even begin to know right now. And what we do and the way we do it is being done nowhere else in the country. This world needs Promising Pages and I am here to give it to them to the best of my ability.

             These past two years have flown by and I am so grateful for the many wonderful people and organizations that have supported us and helped us become so successful despite the odds. I officially launched my first baby in May of 2011 and within a month I would find out I was pregnant with my second baby, which would be my first human baby. How's that for timing? That beautiful boy is now 14 months old and has handled more books than most kindergarteners. Promising Pages is my gift to him. My service and my sacrifice is my gift to him. I want him to grow up knowing how smart and capable he is and how much power he has to change the world in what ever way he is destined to. I want him to know that service is the rent we pay for living and something we MAKE time for. We are far more capable than we currently believe. We all have something deep inside of us that is the reason why we are here on this earth. I only hope my example with Promising Pages helps him find his own calling in life.

My Son and Husband last Summer

            It's time for this toddler of an organization to act like my son and start taking some major steps forward. This means big funding and corporate partnerships so we can stand on our own two feet and effect major change in the lives of more kids before they turn down a dark path.

            In the next couple of weeks a major foundation will announce myself and Promising Pages as the award recipient of an honor that is so big it still sounds only like a dream when I say it in my head. In two weeks we will bring our first part- time staffer on board and will soon be spending the summer with 40+ amazing high school interns, a program that landed us the cover of Society Charlotte Magazine in 2012. We will continue to process tens of thousands of donated books through our warehouse and look forward to our  future Magic Book Mobile and corporate title sponsor for our One Million Books Revolution. This summer we will announce our first international chapter of Promising Pages which is already in the works. There is no shortage of momentum in this organization that is much much bigger than you or I can even conceive right now. I am just a mother a wife and a journalist who grew up tin Florida and shockingly made it though adolescense. I take no credit for this organization beyond the fact that I listen to my inner voice, and execute, as well as try to maintain a positive attitude and a disciplined, forward-thinking imagination. For the honor to be of such great service, I am blessed.

Happy 2nd Birthday Promising Pages!

Kids Matter,

Kristina Cruise
Founder, Promising Pages

We Love Our Volunteers!

            This week, Promising Pages representatives got the opportunity to attend two (delicious!) volunteer appreciation lunches at Albemarle Road and Rama Road Elementary. We were happy to attend and grateful to be included, but with all this appreciation going around, we felt it only fair that we thank our volunteers, too!

            Promising Pages is dependent on volunteers in order to meet the needs of our community. Many wonderful volunteers and groups have supported our efforts this year by donating their time to process, wrap, and distribute books. Your individual and group participation has been instrumental to us in working towards our OMBR goal—we hope to donate over one million books to kids in our community by the end of this year. We could not function at the capacity we do without your continued help and support, and so we thank you, from the bottom of our collective hearts.  

A year and counting...

Through the helpful hands of  HANDS ON CHARLOTTE, Nicole Pulliam discovered Promising Pages in March 2012 and has since been a vital part of the organization. Promising pages shared a similar philosophy as Ms. Pulliam is a former middle school teacher and junior college instructor.
 
"Volunteering has always been a part of my life and since I am an optimistic person I like to encourage children, as well as adults that they can achieve their dreams and/or their endeavors through diligence, determination, persistence, positive outlook, and ambition," said Nicole.  "Outside of volunteering with non-profits, my family and I donate warm meals and beverages to the homeless. During the Christmas holidays. I enjoy giving back to my community by donating my time and efforts to help people and children succeed. Success is not always easy, but through shear will and drive it can be accomplished. It is these philosophies that motivates me to donate my time to Promising Pages."



Nicole says her experience volunteering with Promising Pages has been a very rewarding and productive. She was so please Founder/Executive Director, Kristina Cruise acknowledged that there was a problem with our youth that needed to be brought to the forefront, addressed and tackled.  The fact that so many children have few, if any books at home, and how that can hinder their overall development is something that is not being talked about enough.

Nicole serves as our CAM (Crisis Assistance Ministry) Outreach Coordinator. Each week she helps lead a team of interns and volunteers to distribute our wrapped "presents" via our Promising Pages' Mascot(s) Erma The Bookworma or Erm The Bookworm. "I can personally attest to the impact and the lasting impressions that the interns, volunteers, and the mascots have left on the children, as well as, their parents and/or guardians'. The children and their loved ones are appreciative of the gesture of giving. Some parents ask me how they or their children can volunteer, while others ask how they can get access to additional books and reading resources for their children, and others also ask how they can donate their books to Promising Pages."

Nicole adds it not just about giving books to the children we serve, but about helping mold future visionaries social entrepreneurs that will on day impact our community in their own unique ways. "I have utterly enjoyed working with the high school volunteers and college interns who will be the next line of future leaders to take our place in society. I believe that is fantastic that these young people within our Charlotte community are starting at an early age to know the value of volunteering. I am delighted to work with and be apart of the Promising Pages' team comprised of these amazing individuals, as well as, the great work that they accomplish."

"I would like to personally thank Kristina for bringing me on board and nothing would be complete with properly thanking Marcel Solomon at Hands On Charlotte for allowing me the opportunity to volunteer with Promising Pages."

Thank you Nicole for all that you do for Promising Pages. Happy anniversary!

#welovebooks

Spring Break at Crisis Assistance Ministry

            Spring Break is a time for rest and relaxation for most people. CMS may have observed their break last week, but Promising Pages was hard at work. It turned out to be a very special week for us and our partner, Crisis Assistance Ministry.

            Promising Pages has been handing out books to children waiting at Crisis Assistance Ministry for a little over two years. They were our very first partner, and test marketed our first set of wrapped "presents." Our volunteers who pass out these book weekly at Crisis Assistance Ministry have had some incredible experiences seeing what our work can do in the community. Our volunteers tend to visit in the morning, about the time a lot of older children are in school. However, because of the school calendar, many of these kids find themselves waiting at Crisis Assistance with their parents over Spring Break.  

          Promising Pages stepped it up for Spring Break. Instead of going just one day for one hour, our volunteers went Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, for three hours a pop! Our volunteers arrived prepared to go above and beyond our normal visits to Crisis Assistance.  After receiving presents from Erma, kids in the waiting area enjoyed an exciting story time with Erma the Bookworma, a coloring contest for prizes, and even got to pick out a big stack of books to take home as their own! Wednesday afternoon, the extra books that were not used for the week were donated to Crisis Assistance’s Free Store, so that even kids who might not have been able to join us can still benefit from the life lesson that Erma teaches: You can do anything you want to do in this world, all it takes is 10 minutes of reading a day, and everyday you are one day closer to that dream life. 
           The program was such a success, we plan to implement the expanded concept to our summer Crisis visit. Join us!

 -#readysetread

Why Wrap?

            I’m a fan of gift bags. Especially when you live a frantic life, it’s so easy to just slip a gift for someone in a cheerful bag, stuff some tissue paper in the top (maybe even add a sprig of ribbon if you’re feeling saucy) and—voila!—instant present. Books are different, though. If you’ve ever wrapped a book before, I find the experience very satisfying.

            Here at Promising Pages, we do a lot of wrapping. In fact, wrapping the books we distribute to kids in our area is one of the things that makes our organization so unique. Imagine that rush of joy you feel when a friend hands you a present. Now imagine you’re seven, and that friend is wearing a bright yellow bookworm costume. Needless to say, wrapping books is very important to our organization. And as you may know, we largely rely on the helping hands of volunteers to do this very important job.

One of the things I dislike about wrapping (other than wrestling with the roll of paper) is how very time consuming it can become. It takes time to wrap well! Promising Pages has found an ingenious solution: the Wrapping Party. At every wrapping party I have ever attended, people are astounded by the number of books that can be wrapped by a group, instead of just one. In addition, wrapping books in a group creates a great place to catch up, or even get to know someone better. When the conversation is great, the fact that you’re doing a monotonous activity is trivial.

Speaking of which, is wrapping so trivial after all? Remember how you felt getting a wrapped gift as a child? Do you recall that buildup of suspense as you tried to guess the contents of the package? Opening that present was a gratifying experience, especially if it was something you wanted! Wrapping the books we distribute serves a purpose: we are creating positive thoughts and feelings associated with books. Surely that is worth an hour or two of wrapping with friends, and there is certainly no shortage of books that need attention! If you’re interested in hosting a wrapping party of your own (or just being a part of one), the volunteer page on our website is always open.  

#readysetread
-Carly Foster

Following up with Rama Road

As you may have noticed this week, people in education (or people who work with kids in general), have started getting excited about Dr. Seuss, whose birthday is on March 2^nd. On this day every year, you can find his works being read and activities done in his honor all over the country. What is Promising Pages doing for such an event?

Promising Pages’ claim-to-fame are the Magic Book Parties we host in the Charlotte area. The party excites students about reading and leaves them with a magic book of their very own. This year, Promising Pages is hosting its first Dr. Seuss Magic Book Party at Rama Road Elementary. We have a shipment of brand new books (“The Cat in the Hat” and “One fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”) from First Book to distribute to the students at Rama Road. First Book is a national non-profit organization that works through smaller organizations (like us) to provide access to books to children who may have a hard time getting them.

We are very excited to be partnering with Rama Road for this event!  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss, on what would have been your 109th birthday, so, so close to Earth Day!

#readysetread

Meet the Interns 2013!

Promising Pages is a volunteer-run non-profit organization.  Lots of people work hard to make Promising Pages a success and without them, there wouldn't be a Promising Pages. Our interns are part of this dynamic group.  Meet our 2013 spring interns:

Name: Carley Foster

Education: Senior at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, working on her  BA in Psychology with a double minor in Women's Studies and Child Development. This summer Carley will be studying Psychology abroad in London, and plans to graduate in spring 2014. She plans is to pursue a doctorate in Community Psychology and work in the non-profit sector, either working with one or beginning one of her own.

Hobbies: Carley loves to read Janet Fitch, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Roald Dahl, who are some of her favorite authors. Shealso loves to  hike, the outdoors, and nature photography. When there's time she also likes to do art projects and exercise.

What Carley had to say about Promising Pages:

"I have been working with Promising Pages since December 2012, and so far I have had some incredible experiences. The work I do requires me to be organized, flexible, and most of all an ambassador for the organization. I have learned how to network and have overcome my anxiety of driving to unfamiliar places. I get to witness firsthand how a non-profit organization functions from the inside out, and I am so grateful for all of these experiences."

"Out of all the things I do at Promising Pages, I think some of my favorites would have to be networking with others and handing out books at Crisis Assistance. See, I really love to talk, and networking allows me to promote our organization so people can get involved. At the end of the day it's great to be able to see all that hard work we do pay off when kids get so excited to receive our presents. It really is something you have to see for yourself to understand. When I first started working with PP, I understood kids were getting books as wrapped gifts, which is great, but to be able to watch their faces light up and see how happy they become when someone gives them something as simple as a book added a whole new dimension to my knowledge of why we do what we do."

Name: Brandon Harris

Education: Senior at Queens University of Charlotte, majoring in media communications and english literature and also a brother of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Brandon wants to get into marketing or human resources after graduation.

Hobbies: playing basketball and barbequing with friends.

What Brandon had to say about Promising Pages:
"Promising Pages is an incredible organization because it inspires children to read. Reading is the single most important skill to have in this world, so this organization is working to truly make the world a better place." So true, Brandon. So very true.

Name: Vanessa Agbozo

Education: Junior at UNC Charlotte, working on her BS in Business Administration, majoring in Finance and Marketing. Plans to pursue her MBA. Vanessa moved to the United States from Ghana, West Africa in March 2008 to further her Education.

Hobbies: Swimming, creating projects, reading-- especially science fiction, being around family and being involved at church

What Vanessa had to say about Promising Pages:
"I have been with Promising Pages since January 2013, and for this short period I have gained so much. As a person from a third world country, I understand what some of these children without advantages such as books available to them feel without them. To be able to see the joy on their faces as they receive their books and to know that, such a gift plays a role in the bright future that lies ahead of them is just enough satisfaction."

Name: Brennan Shearer

Education: Student at queens University o Charlotte with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Italian.
Hobbies: Brennan loves to read, work with children, being a Young Life Leader at Myers Park High School, taking weekend trips to the beach or mountains with friends, watching movies, traveling, and simply being with friends and family.

what Brennan had to say about Promising Pages:

"I have definately gained a heart for empowering underprivileged children, not just providing for them. Through woking with Promising Pages, I have been able to realize the value of reading and of books. over the course of my time with Promising Pages I have been able to realize my strength and weaknesses more fully while improving upon them and receiving encourageent to provide creativity and new ideas to the organiation as continues to grow! What i love the most is being able to be a part of the joy that children have when they receive new books. It is worth all of the work to see kids in schools or at Crisis Assistance Ministry brighten up when they receive a vsit from Erma the Book Worma an have a new, wrapped book placed in their hands. I have also loved he opportunity to network and partner with so many other fantastic non-profits in Charlotte and I feel blessed to be a part of an organization that has witnesed so much growth over the year and continues to reach out ino Charlotte more everyday!"

Please give a shout out to our interns on our Facebook Page.



-Vanessa Agbozo
#welovebooks