[Summit] Pay it Forward Books for Billy Taylor Park

Sun Jun 22 03:49:11 UTC 2014

Sorry, meant to add URLs:

http://booksarewings.org/wordpress1/

http://www.rorri.org/

On Sat, Jun 21, 2014 at 11:48 PM, Geoff Griffin <ggriffin at gordonschool.org>
wrote:

> Thank you for providing the perspective, Ellen.
>
> Books are WIngs is a great, busy organization that accepts both cash and
> book donations.
>
> Reach Out and Read RI is similarly awesome, accepting cash though I am not
> sure about books.
>
> Both of these programs distribute tens of thousands of books directly to
> Rhode Island children.
>
> And no! I don't work for either of them, nor do they purchase or promote a
> book my boss wrote :-)
>
>
> distributes thousand
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 21, 2014 at 8:52 PM, Robert Mathiesen <rmath13 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thank you for this, Ellen!  --  Bob M
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 21, 2014 at 6:34 PM, Ellen House <elnhouse at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I wonder whether my neighbors on the Summit Neighborhood list are aware
>>> of the huge economic disparities between the Mount Hope Neighborhood and
>>> the area that surrounds it, of which Summit is a part. The Billy Taylor
>>> Park is a park on Camp Street. Many (probably most) of the children who
>>> visit this park are growing up in poverty.
>>>
>>> I am a teacher at Hope High School. Hope has very few students from the
>>> East Side who live outside of the Mount Hope Neighborhood. You probably
>>> could count our students who live on the rest of the East Side on the
>>> fingers of one hand, but we have many students from Mount Hope. About 90%
>>> of our students live in poverty (as measured by qualifying for free lunch
>>> in the federal program); most of our students have not had the exposure to
>>> opportunities that many of us take for granted. The urban education
>>> problems and its disparities of opportunity between socio-economic groups
>>> within the US are demonstrated right here in this small part of one city.
>>>
>>> One thing that makes a huge difference for impoverished children is
>>> being read to. There is much research in education that validates the
>>> importance of reading to children and giving them rich language
>>> experiences. There is also much research showing that poverty in language
>>> environment, low socio-economic status, and difficulty in school all go
>>> hand in hand. (If you would like to see the research, I can point you in
>>> its direction on request.) While I don't know of any specific research
>>> about story telling, my guess is that hearing a story teller spin a tale
>>> contributes greatly to children's language experiences. Hearing a story and
>>> then being given the book to read and re-read and maybe find another child
>>> to read it to or an adult to read it aloud is powerful!
>>>
>>> This is the type of project that can make a difference in children's
>>> lives. I feel we should strongly support this project and others that try
>>> to make a difference for the children of Mount Hope. The people who
>>> organize and carry out such projects should not be denigrated but respected
>>> and praised as they are performing a service to others. I am certain they
>>> are not getting wealthy from doing this. Perhaps the Summit Neighborhood
>>> should organize a list of people and organizations working to enrich the
>>> lives of children in their neighboring area and find ways to help them.
>>>
>>> If you don't want to buy Cinderella Spinderella, buy another book, give
>>> it to a Providence teacher and ask that it be given to a child who is
>>> otherwise likely to not own a book or find some other way to help the
>>> children of Providence living in poverty. But, PLEASE do not complain about
>>> someone trying to help these children!
>>>
>>> Sorry this is so long. I'm rather passionate about this issue.
>>> Ellen
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Jun 21, 2014 at 9:31 AM, Greg Gerritt <gerritt at mindspring.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I admit I was surprised by some of the reactions.  To me it was a
>>>> legitimate charitable event that is fine on this list.  Greg gerritt
>>>> Administrator  Environment Council of RI Education Fund (a 501c3
>>>> corporation) and student of non profit management
>>>>
>>>> On 6/21/14 8:48 AM, "Beth Hellman" <beth at storyamonth.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> >Hi all,
>>>> >
>>>> >I had replied to Kim off the list, not realizing that her reply went
>>>> out
>>>> >to everyone. (I'm on the digest version)
>>>> >
>>>> >I'm a bit at a loss to understand how this project is disingenuous or
>>>> not
>>>> >"giving."
>>>> >
>>>> >Are we non-profit 501c3? No, but we are partnering with one. Also, as I
>>>> >pointed out to Kim, we are paying taxes on any income received.
>>>> >
>>>> >We're trying to raise funds to donate copies of Cinderella Spinderella
>>>> to
>>>> >young people in Mt. Hope.
>>>> >That's why I sent it to the Summit list.
>>>> >Are we going to be giving books? Yes? Are we using our time and
>>>> resources
>>>> >to do so? Yes.
>>>> >Is this a Kickstarter? No. As  the contributions come in, the books
>>>> will
>>>> >be given out.
>>>> >On his own, my boss frequently contributes time, money and books to
>>>> local
>>>> >organizations.
>>>> >But we can't afford to give books to every child at an event.
>>>> >
>>>> >If you'd like to donate, please do so. If not, I'd appreciate it if
>>>> you'd
>>>> >not disparage our project.
>>>> >
>>>> >If you have questions, please email me directly and I'll be glad to
>>>> >answer them.
>>>> >
>>>> >Beth Hellman
>>>> >beth at storyamonth.com
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >_______________________________________________
>>>> >Summit mailing list
>>>> >Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>>>> >
>>>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>>>> >SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Summit mailing list
>>>> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>>>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>>>> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Summit mailing list
>>> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>>> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Summit mailing list
>> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>> http://sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
>> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Geoff Griffin
> www.gordonschool.org
>

-- 
Geoff Griffin
www.gordonschool.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sna.providence.ri.us/pipermail/summit_sna.providence.ri.us/attachments/20140621/ceb0391f/attachment.htm>