Holiday Gifts that Change Lives
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GIVE MEANINGFUL GIFTS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
 Looking for meaningful gifts for the holidays? Forget the fruitcake - launch a business or promote literacy or send some books instead!
Please visit our profile on ChangingThePresent.org. We offer many different donation gifts that you can "give" to family and friends. Once you select a gift, you can then send a beautiful, personalized greeting card to announce the donation in your own words. These gifts also make great stocking stuffers!
Don't want people to give you bath sets and novelty sweaters? Create a gift registry of your own and ask your friends and family for gifts that change the world instead!
Shop from home and change the world at the same time - what could be easier! Click here to start shopping!
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Just $3 Lets Us Send Books to 1 Prisoner
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 HELP US SEND ALL REQUESTS BY THE HOLIDAYS
Our store room is overflowing with book packages waiting to be mailed to prisoners. Thanks to our very successful book drive (see below), our bookshelves are overflowing with really good books and we have legions of volunteers lining up to fill book requests. Please help us send books to over 1500 waiting prisoners in time for the holidays!
As you plan your year-end charitable contributions, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today! Just $3 lets us help another prisoner. $30 sends books to 10 prisoners. We make so little go so far!
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| Book Drive a Huge Success! |
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22,000 (5 TONS!) OF BOOKS COLLECTED
 Dozens of volunteers, hundreds of donors, and over 22,000 books all added up to an extremely successful book drive on November 8th in Brighton, MA.
What does 5 TONS of book look like? See photos here.
Groups of volunteers from Boston Cares, Park Street Church, Meet Up Boston, and lots of individuals helped carry, sort, pack, and organize the books.
Some of the books will stock our shelves for months to come. A carload of children's books are already in the hands of mothers and children in the "Read to Me Mommy" program at MCI Framingham. All others are being sold by Better World Books to benefit PBP and the City Mission Society of Boston.
Planning has already begun for 2009 which promises to be an even bigger event! Watch this newsletter for more details. If you do not live near the Boston area, please consider donating your unwanted books to a "books to prisoners" program near you or to another Great American Book Drive.
Many, many thanks to everyone who donated books - or their time - to help make this event such a huge success! |
Bruce Western Speaks at PBP Open House
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BRUCE WESTERN SPEAKS ON "PUNISHMENT AND INEQUALITY IN AMERICA"
 PBP's October 25th Open House brought dozens of friends, volunteers, and members of the community to our space in Quincy for tours, snacks, and music. The highlight of the day was a lecture by Bruce Western, renowned Harvard sociologist, who discussed some of the statistics regarding race and incarceration rates in the US.
If you missed the event, you can still see Dr. Western's lecture, "Punishment and Inequality in America" here thanks to Erich Mettler, PBP's official videographer. |
| e-Newsletter Survey |
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 TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
Our e-Newsletter is six months old! (We know, it's hard to believe. They grow up so fast!) To make sure we're filling your inbox with interesting, relevant information, we want your opinion. If you have a few minutes to spare for a brief survey, we would certainly appreciate your time and your feedback! Click here to take the survey. |
| Thank You Volunteers! |
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 MANY MANY THANKS TO OUR NOVEMBER VOLUNTEERS!
- Boston Cares
- Park Street Church, Boston
- MeetUp Boston
- Northeastern University Criminal Justice Students
- Single Volunteers of Boston
- Suffolk University
- Upward Bound
- YAVA (Young Alumni Volunteer Association)
... and numerous dedicated individuals!
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| Prisoner Writing: Your Future Together
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By James Gatlin, Raiford, FL
The frog in a well cannot discuss the ocean,
Because of his limited size and the size of the well.
A summer fly cannot discuss the snow,
Because it knows only its own season they tell.
When you start to see your own inferiority,
As you swim in the ocean or sit on the mountain high top.
It is now possible to discuss the great priniciples,
concepts, perceptions, and realities of life that don't stop.
Under the Heavens there are no greater waters,
Than the ocean as a thousand rivers flow into it.
The ocean has never known to stop,
And it's capacity cannot be determined or defined to it.
Life comes and goes from Heaven and Earth,
It quickly passes and appears again forever.
Books pour forth knowledge and wisdom,
Yet that brings understand to put your future together.
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| Support PBP |
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The Prison Book Program is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. |
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Resources |
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PLEASE PRINT AND SHARE THESE RESOURCES WITH YOUR LOVED ONES IN PRISON
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Book Packing Hours |
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Tuesdays & Thursdays
6:30-9:00 PM
3rd Saturdays:
Jan 17, 10-4
Feb 21, 10-4
Holiday Hours:
We will be closed from Dec 20 - Jan 1
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| Stats |
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November Stats
Letters waiting to be filled as of 11/30:
~1425
Prisoners served:
Books sent:
846
Volunteers:
101
Books sent:
13,624
Volunteers:
1,464
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