The Heart of America Foundation® has been participating
in and coordinating a number of fun and exciting community events
lately.
1.23.10 - Our READesign library makeover in Houston was absolutely fabulous today! We distributed about 6,000 books to Grissom Elementary and had 650 students, parents, and community members attend the open-house celebration. Additionally, the regional superintendent and a prominent school board member attended and spoke at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony. Over 30 Capital One volunteers spent the day preparing and facilitating the event logistics and, according to our project evals, had a great time.
1.20.10 - The librarian at Werner Park in Shreveport, LA shared with us that they held their first Math and Reading Night since our library makeover in October and had an attendance of over 300 people! This number is up from 30 people in attendance at their event prior to the makeover! Just a small example of the impact our work has on the students, teachers and families!
12.17.09 - What a year! We completed a record of 22 elem school library makeovers--touching the lives of over 10,000 students and we engaged over 2,700 volunteers in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, LA, Marmaduke, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, NY, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Riverside, Santa Ana, Shreveport, & St Louis. Together we helped students regain lost opportunities for learning. THANK YOU to our friends/supporters.
10.26.09 - People magazine covered The Heart of America Foundation and Target's library redesign project at Marmaduke Elementary. See the article.
9.11.09 - Yesterday, The Heart of America Foundation and Target kicked-off the Target School Library Makeover program with the unveiling of one of 16 extreme school library transformations in New York City, in support of the United We Serve nationwide service initiative. A big thanks goes out to the community partners, volunteers, schools, students and families who help make it all happen. See the announcement.
For the past several years The Heart of America Foundation has partnered with United for DC's United Reads program to distribute books to students at six DC schools. During each event, DC United soccer players read and pass out books to the students. Each school received three visits during the school year: one in the fall, one in April/May, and the last in late May/June. During each visit every student in the school receives two new books, as well as information about soccer, literacy, and encouragement to have a healthy lifestyle. Participating schools included: Bruce-Monroe Elementary School, Ketcham Elementary School, Payne Elementary School, Savoy Elementary School, Tubman Elementary School and Simon Elementary School.
6.14.10 - On June 14th, chefs participating in Sweet Charity 2010 were joined by The Heart of America Foundation staff at Cleveland Elementary School to participate in a book distribution. Chefs had the opportunity to read to classes, share their professional lives and background with the children, and individually distribute two books to each student. In total, chefs and The Heart of America Foundation staff distributed 838 books to 319 students.
5.21.10 - In partnership with Toyota, The Heart of America Foundation staff visited Garrison Elementary School and distributed three new books to each student. In total, 1078 books were distributed to 242 students. The partnership between The Heart of America Foundation and Toyota has been built through The Heart of America Foundation’s annual event, Sweet Charity, and this specific distribution was connected to Toyota’s sponsorship of Sweet Charity 2009.
5.7.10 - The Heart of America Foundation partnered with FedEx Office to distribute two new books to each student at Raymond Education Campus. In total, 841 books were distributed to 354 students. The partnership between The Heart of America Foundation and FedEx Office began a few years ago through The Heart of America Foundation’s annual event, Sweet Charity, and this specific distribution was connected to FedEx Office’s sponsorship of Sweet Charity 2009.
5.3.10 - The Heart of America Foundation took part in our annual Prudential Spirit of Community book distribution project, in partnership with Prudential and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Together, we distributed three books to each of the students at Montgomery Elementary School and Walker-Jones Educational Campus. Both schools are located in northwest Washington, DC. Each year, Prudential chooses about 100 honorees from across the country and the world, including one middle school student and one high school student from each US state, that have demonstrated a strong dedication to community service. The honorees came to Washington, DC for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, and during that time worked with The Heart of America Foundation to distribute books to two local elementary schools. In addition to distributing new books to the students of both schools, many honorees also held book drives in their home states to collect additional student and library books for the schools. The 188 students at Walker-Jones Education Campus received 1,561 books for students and 50 library books, while the 226 students at Montgomery Elementary School received 1,460 student books and 50 library books. In addition to distributing the books, each honoree also had the opportunity to read and interact with a small group of students.
4.7.10 - We partnered with the National Conference of State Societies to conduct our annual Cherry Blossom Princess book distribution, this year at Cleveland Elementary School in northwest DC. The Cherry Blossom Princesses were chosen from across the country, and came to Washington, DC for a week to participate in the National Conference of State Societies’ Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The book distribution provided two books for each of the approximately 319 students at Cleveland ES. In total, 684 student books and 50 library books were distributed.
3.22.10 - Our annual Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. book distribution took place at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, related to the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C.’s sponsorship of Sweet Charity 2009. During the distribution, each student received two new books, which came to a total of 744 for the school.
1.27.10 - The Heart of America Foundation was proud to partner with the Washington Nationals on their Winter Caravan Event in January 2010. The Washington Nationals rallied their players to provide a cozy book nook at the Southwest Health Center in Washington, DC for the children of the center’s clients. The book nook, which included a book shelf, was stocked with a donation of almost 100 children’s books from the Heart of America Foundation.
1.18.10 - The Heart of America Foundation teamed up with Allstate and Howard University for the All State Give Back Day/MLK National Day of Service at Howard University today. Allstate's sponsorship allowed The Heart of America Foundation to provide over 1,450 books that were shared with students from four under-resourced schools in the Howard University/Shaw area of Washington, DC. In addition, we hosted a wonderful event for families in that community that incorporated educational as well as fun activities, book giveaways and lunch!
11.23.09 - Today The Heart of America Foundation gave 1,600 books to kids at Kimball Elementary with Howard University volunteers, in honor of Principal Sheila West Miller, our Sweet Charity "Principal of the Year" awardee!
11.20.09 - Borders Books and Music at 600 14th Street, NW in DC is conducting a kids' winter book drive now. Books purchased by customers will be donated to kids in need through our Books From The Heart Program.
