K is for Kids' Big Book Giveaway Continues!

All educators in schools and nonprofits that serve high school students or advanced readers are invited to sign up for K is for Kids Foundation's "Big Book Giveaway" --  Thousands of books are still available for media specialists, educators, reading coaches, teachers, etc., to come and select books for their students and themselves!   Thanks to Cypress Self Storage at 7755 Preserve Lane in north Naples, the books will be available until April 10th.  Check out K is for Kids' website at http://kisforkids.org to keep up with all the latest news.  The event launched on March 27th with great success  and was aired on WINK-TV thanks to reporter Amanda Hall.

At right, Gulf Coast High School Senior, Tyler, created a special three-dimensional poster for the event. 

Open first to media specialists, reading coaches, education directors, etc., who work with teen literacy.  Participants "shopped" for free books for their libraries, classrooms and students, enjoyed a free lunch compliments of Cypress Self Storage, and shared more smiles than 

we could count. One lucky winner went home with a Trader Joe's gift bag overflowing with delicious treats while all participants left with bags overflowing!  Special thanks to Best Buy for bringing in Tag Team volunteers to help with last minute preparations and for donating the colorful shopping bags for guests; volunteer Margie Bluestein and consultant Vivian Hadding (see photo below); and to K is for Kids' own Teen Advisory Team members, Cynthia, Erin, Jessica and Tyler, for helping after school.  

The once-in-a-lifetime donation from the Book Warehouse (read the story below) has enabled the Foundation to open the doors to all those who work with teen literacy, as many of the books are for students at a high school or advanced reading level.  The books may be placed into general circulation or given directly to students.  Schools and organizations can even organize their own "Big Book Giveaway."  All in all, over 13,000 books will be distributed.

                  Photo at left:  Gulf Coast High School senior, Cynthia, created the charming "Young Readers" room while Jessica and Danielle, a sophomore at Barron Collier and senior at Naples High Schools, respectively, decorated the "Fiction for Young Adults" room.  

Bags and boxes are available on site for shoppers, as well, thanks to Best Buy, Bank of America and Barnes & Noble.

 Some of our friends who helped make it happen.  Photo at far left, Northside Naples Kiwanis Club members Chris LeBlanc (left) and Tim Tuttle (center) gave the BIG project wings when they came in with a crew of volunteers to help K is for Kids pack up and load all the books at the Book Warehouse.  Photo at left, l-r, K is for Kids founder and executive director Karen Clawson stands with Rebecca Endrelunas, Gulf Coast High School Media Specialist; Marcia Kolmann, Golden Gate Elementary School Media Specialist and Trader Joe's gift bag raffle winner; Ashley Bagley, Best Buy Tag Team Volunteer; Steven Banks, Area Property Manager of Cypress Self Storage; and Danielle Toms, Director of Business Development for Mindful Management.

 The "Big Book Giveaway" coincided with K is for Kids' annual book donation to grant recipients.  The unique offering was made possible when the Book Warehouse in Estero closed its doors and donated 10,000 books to K is for Kids.  It was a huge undertaking for K is for Kids and since its primary volunteers ARE teens in high school.  As the store had to be cleared on a Monday morning, when K is for Kids' volunteers were in class, K is for Kids Founder Karen Clawson reached out to Kiwanis Club member Tim Tuttle (shown above) who helped give the project wings when he gathered a small workforce of Northside Naples Kiwanis Club members.  

With the additional help of a dozen students from AMIKids-Ft. Myers (below left) the mountain of books was boxed and loaded.  With a new home needed for the books, Cypress Self Storage in north Naples generously donated the large air-conditioned rooms needed to store, organize and display the books for later distribution.  After school, local high school students and volunteers pitched in to get the books inside their new rooms. 

To view the original story that aired on WINK-TV by reporter Lauren Pastrana, link here  http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2012-01-23/out-of-business-bookstore-donates-books.

Photo at right:  Vivian Hadding, former Book Warehouse store manager, helped K is for Kids' volunteer Margie Bluestein with the Nonfiction for Young Adults room.

"K is for Kids Foundation has had our most successful fun'raising season yet," said Karen Clawson, founder and executive director.  "The community has rallied tremendously to help us give kids in need more books to read.  Many businesses such as Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Waterside Shops and Coconut Point Mall, Starbucks of Collier County, Retro FitnessClive Daniel Home,  and Salon C International served as drop off locations for book donations; while Health Management Associates (HMA) and the Collier County Sheriff's Office organized employee book drives.  Dozens of individuals, moms and children dusted off their bookshelves to donate books, so that less fortunate children may have a "new" book to read.  Additionally, K is for Kids' Teen Advisory Team set its own record this year, collecting 800 books."

K is for Kids Foundation is a Naples-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes children's literacy and leadership.  The Foundation offers three book donation programs to help give children in need more books to read.

For more information or to sign up, visit the Foundation's website atwww.KisforKids.org or contact Karen Clawson by email at Karen@KisforKids.org or telephone 239.596.KIDS (5437).