Excerpt:

Ten years ago...I could never have predicted that those first efforts would one day inspire the formation of K is for Kids Foundation, or that under its umbrella, one community gathering benefiting the students of one school would expand into the "Bring a Book, Bring a Friend" for Children's Literacy Month benefiting many schools.

Reading and learning, dreaming and creating, expressing and communicating, standing up and leading -- these are the cornerstones of our organization.

Thanks to your generosity and compassion, our growth in 2011-12 was impressive across all levels:  Benefited educators and students doubled; distributed books tripled; volunteers (adult/youth) quadrupled; and supporters skyrocketed. Another...milestone:  100% of our first "class" of graduating...seniors continued on to college!

May I [share] the words of one of our top teen leaders 2009-12, Matthew Colligan, Gulf Coast High School's Valedictorian Class of 2012, and now University of Pennsylvania freshman:  "When I first got involved with K is for Kids Foundation, I looked at it as an easy way to get my volunteer hours....I soon realized that this experience would benefit me in so many ways and give me skills I could use for the rest of my life.  What I liked...is how it allowed me to understand different components of running a business [and] the importance of communicating with everyone....K is for Kids was an invaluable experience for me and I hope that many more teens are able to have the same experience I had as the foundation continues to grow and bring awareness to a great cause." 

 A year of bright memories:  Click on pics to follow the stories.

Rising Readers supports the efforts of media specialists and language arts educators

to encourage students to read more while recognizing their reading achievements:

Students are given the opportunity to choose a new book to take home and keep.

K is for Kids' Teen Advisory Team Spokerspersons again took the lead videotaping PSAs about our mission to "Encourage today's readers. Inspire tomorrow's leaders."

At left, last year two of our teen leaders from Gulf Coast High School launched the inaugural Teen Fashion Show in collaboration with Barron Collier High and Collier County Public Schools. Over 125 students from around the county participated in making it a huge success.

Benefiting the Rising Readers program, books were distributed to younger students.

 Right, the closing of the Book Warehouse made hard news, but local children weren't left empty-handed, instead the inventory of 10,000 books were donated to K is for Kids! 

Left, the "Young Readers Room" at the Big Book Giveaway was one of the large storage rooms at Cypress Self Storage decorated by local teen volunteers.

Working with business and community leaders, our children's literacy month launched

in Immokalee with Fun'raiser for children of the Farm Workers Village.

Celebrated throughout February, this time the "Bring a Book, Bring a Friend"

brought four guests authors for the kids to meet as

our community partners helped us give away over one thousand books.

  A traveling art exhibition for middle school students

offering a unique way to express the power of words

and the impact it may have on others.

Manatee Middle School: First Place, "Think" by Ediberto

and at right, Runner-up, "City" by Yasmin

 

K is for Kids' Big Book Giveaway, above and below, worked closely with business partners and local educators to get more books into the hands of students. At right,

amidst mountains of boxes & books, one is found perfect for a baby.

Thanks to a joint two-county effort by Starbucks of Collier & Lee, 

buckets of beautiful books were collected for children in need --

 Youngsters at Brightest Horizons, Ft. Myers, got to choose new books to take home.

We just love to see the kids happy to read!

FGCU interns and volunteers are growing in number,

joining our teen leaders to launch reading fun'raisers for kids.

More and more authors have joined our cause,

helping K is for Kids bring books to kids everywhere!

It's been a lot of hard work this past year and we couldn't

have achieved so much without you.

Thanks to your generosity and compassion for our goal of

giving kids in need more books to read, from toddlers to teens

K is for Kids is continuing to spread its message and community outreach.

We thank each and everyone of you for helping us bring ALL our children

the love of reading and the power of words.

 Would you like to join our cause?

Ways To Help 

Make a small donation today to buy a book for a child in need.

Donate now so that K is for Kids may give kids in need more books to read.