1,562,822 books distributed to date!

on individuals to help spread the word and GROW our mission by going out into the community and engaging others in support of Bernie's Book Bank!

Here are some examples: 

We'd like to say thank you to Bruce and Angie Carroll of Angie's Book Nook, who created a fundraising campaign on the website, indiegogo.com.  They reached out to their network and their supporters donated close to $350 for books to be distributed to the at-risk children we serve.

Special thanks to: Kimberly Barton, Rika Yasui, Annette Dickey

Kriss MacDonald, Donna Stonecipher, Susan Lanni and several anonymous contributors.

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Mike first learned about Bernie's Book Bank through his wife, Peg, who had volunteered in our processing center with a local group, Mothers for Others. When Mike needed a team building activity for his department at Zebra, he brought them to Bernie's Book Bank. While volunteering, Mike noticed that we needed more stickers and he says, "I thought my goodness, this is something Zebra can easily supply - which we did...Zebra has donated two million stickers to Bernie's Book Bank.  Zebra has also helped layout their current distribution and work flows.  It's wonderful to be able to help Bernie's Book Bank make a difference in the life of at-risk children in our community."

Mike is now active on the Board of Directors of Bernie's Book Bank. When asked what he brings to the board, he replied, "Pizza!" But we know that his business acumen goes much further than that! He has been instrumental to Bernie's Book Bank, establishing systems that allow us to efficiently and sustainably collect, process and redistribute 100,000 books per month!

Professional success is not Mike's only achievement. He recently lost over 60 pounds after a meeting with his doctor. He says, "The elliptical (machine) in the basement made it easy to exercise, no excuses. ...I then began using it 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening six days a week...I pretty much stopped eating junk food and downloaded an app on my smart phone that helped me keep track of what I was eating.  All this resulted in meaningful weight loss."

Mike says he knew that these changes "needed to be permanent." He ran in his first 5K a few months later. Inspired by contestants on the hit T.V. show, The Biggest Loser, Mike set a goal to run a marathon.  Just six months after setting that goal, at age 50, Mike achieved it by completing the Indianapolis Marathon (yes, that's 26.2 miles!). He now runs a spring and fall marathon every year.

Joining Team Bernie seemed the next step. Mike says, "First, I love what Bernie's Book Bank is doing!  My heart goes out to children who don't have a reasonable chance of getting ahead.  Second, I love running.  Being part of Team Bernie is just a natural thing.  They have cool shirts, too.  Cool shirts always help!"

Mike is a great example of a Bernie's Book Bank supporter that has found multiple ways to be engaged and help our mission. In addition to being a board member, volunteering with his department and donating on a corporate level, he joined the Zebra Technologies team that ran in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge� in Chicago. Employees
promoted their involvement together and fundraised for Bernie's Book Bank. Mike said, "It was extremely well received.  Zebra loves being positively engaged with our communities.  Bernie's Book Bank is just a natural for us to help out."

Join the Staff of Bernie's Book Bank

We're looking for a energetic, hardworking, team player to join our staff as Collection & Distribution Specialist.  This is a full-time paid position. Essential job responsibilities include:

• Prepare, deliver and set up collection materials for Collection Partners
• Efficiently and effectively pick up collections
• Lead distribution process and volunteers while working with Distribution Partners
• Assist in the overall operation of our processing center

Click here for a complete job description.  Interested? Contact:[email protected]

A Message From Brian

Dear Fellow Berniacs,

I looked up the word GRASSROOTS in the dictionary and thesaurus and here are some of the phrases/words I discovered:

• people or society at a local level
• the groundwork or source of something
• the origin or essentials
• essential, crucial, indispensable, integral, significant, supporting, sustaining, structural, key
• the thesaurus even used "meat-and-potatoes"!

These phrases and words describe our supporters so well. 

You ARE the "meat-and-potatoes" of Bernie's Book Bank....you ARE indispensable.....you ARE sustaining!

On behalf of our staff, our Board of Directors and the now 75,000 at-risk Chicagoland children we now serve, THANK YOU!

Please continue to spread the word about Bernie's Book Bank; share this newsletter with your friends.