K is for Kids is one of the sponsors of

Sabal Palm Elementary’s Family Literacy Night

on Tuesday, May 22nd – 5 to 7 p.m.

Student volunteers needed!  Call 239.596.KIDS (5437) to sign up.

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Don’t miss the

3rd Annual Power of the Word Traveling Art Exhibition

for Collier County Middle School Students

A unique opportunity for middle school students to visually express the power of words and the importance of reading.

Vineyards Community Center in Naples through April

6231 Arbor Blvd., Naples 3411, telephone (239) 353-9669

Hours: Monday – Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

K is for Kids Giving Season 2013!

K is for Kids’ fun’raising continues with another round of book giveaways

and shopping trips for grant recipients to come select new books for students!

A BIG THANK YOU to all the students who are organizing the thousands of books donated during their From the Heart Teen Fashion Festival and Bring a Book, Bring a Friend for Children’s Literacy Month!

Sign up to volunteer by contact Karen Clawson at 239.596.KIDS (5437).

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 If you missed our “From the Heart” Teen Fashion Festival, see all the photos on our facebook page!

5th Annual “Kids Celebrate Reading” Book Fair

Saturday, February 23rd, noon to 3 pm at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Waterside Shops, Naples

GUEST AUTHOR OF “N IS FOR NAPLES” LISA TREBILCOCK!

and NAREN ARYAL, the publisher of MASCOT BOOKS, will be there too offering tips for inspiring authors of all ages!

Members of our Teen Advisory Team will once again host lots of fun activities for children as they meet guest authors then become young authors themselves!

Lots of Fun’raising Stations for Children:

* Face Painting * Scavenger Hunt * Storytimes * Guest Author Presentation * Book Signing * Children Write Stories *

* PRIZES * RAFFLES (Two baskets of books will be given away!)

Participants are invited to bring a book for a child in need — students, earn community service hours for your book donations!

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Book drives!  Help us place books into the hands of children who need them most!

Join the businesses, organizations and individuals throughout Collier & Lee Counties who are hosting book drives to help K is for Kids give kids in need more books to read!

To find the drop-off location nearest you, email Karen@KisforKids.org or call 239.596.KIDS (5437).

 Our student leaders’ signature event “From the Heart” Teen Fashion Festival, was a great success. Congratulations to all who participated and thank you to all our sponsors!

Students of all ages and from all around Southwest Florida were in the show!

Participants are invited to bring a book for a child in need — students, earn community service hours for your book donations!

Watch the video created by teens being aired on cable TV by Comcast!  Click on link to YouTube http://youtu.be/HELJzXamlxQ or on pic below:

Click on poster below to view the PSAs created by teens for other students.

For a complete list of sponsors and consultants, please click here http://www.kisforkids.org/sponsors/

To see all the students who are making our literacy month and fun’raisers such a success

 click here:

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K is for Kids’ Fun’raising Season 2011-12

Each February, K is for Kids’ students leaders host a variety of events and activities for children of all ages during the Bring a Book, Bring a Friend for Children’s Literacy Month.  The Bring a Book month celebrates two of life’s greatest treasures:  friends and books!

K is for Kids’ Giving Season begins each spring, and is benefiting more children in need with each year passing.  This year, thanks to our teen leaders, K is for Kids also distributed books for children throughout the holidays and summer!

Summer 2012

TEEN MEETINGS — Sessions for planning and preparing teen leaders’ projects, fun’raisers and activities during 2012-13.

“STORY TIME IN THE SUMMER SERIES” & “BUILDING BOOK NOOKS FOR KIDS”

K is for Kids’ teens and volunteers visit and read stories to children at nonprofit organizations that are enrolled in our Building Book Nooks for Kids program.

A recap of events during 2011-12  (Note:  Photos can be seen of all the events by clicking on links and visiting K is for Kids’ facebook page at www.facebook.com/kisforkids.  Please be sure to click “like” while you’re visiting!

Stories and books were shared with first grade boys and girls at the Boys & Girls Club of Collier County – Thursday, July 14, 2011  Click here to see our teens in action.

plus with preschool children at the Immokalee Child Care Center – August 16, 2011  Click here to read the story.

YMCA’s Back to School Expo sponsored by Neapolitan Family Magazine – Saturday, August 13, 2011

Teens again volunteered to help children create storyboards for K is for Kids’ giant filmstrip on canvas (created by Hi-Tech for us).  This activity was first done at last year’s Naples CityFest for Naples International Film Festival’s “Films & Flavors on Fifth” event, this year there were hundreds of children drawing pictures inspired by what they anticipated seeing on their first day back to school.  Adult volunteers helped too!  Click here to see more.

September 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011
“FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY” & “RISING READERS” – K is for Kids’ Donated New Books to School Libraries plus New Books for Students to Take Home & Keep
Teens organized the newly purchased books that were distributed amongst ten Collier County school libraries during the first meeting of Media Specialists at Gulf Coast High School as well as the community donated books and new books for K is for Kids’ RISING READERS program.  Click here to see the dedicated media specialists enrolled in our programs.

“RISING READERS” Literacy Program Launches for Collier County Children
Teens and adult volunteers organized the brand new books that arrived weekly for this exciting new program. Click here to read more about K is for Kids’ efforts to help media specialists and school encourage their students to read more.  Click here to see some of the students excited to receive new books to read!

October 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011
“POWER UP WITH READING” PEP RALLY at Golden Terrace Elementary Intermediate School
When K is for Kids heard what one local media specialist was doing to encourage the schools’ students to read, we were thrilled to become part of this ‘cheer-ful’ event!  Each student that took a pledge to read more books received a NEW book to take home and keep.  GTES became the focus school for K is for Kids’ Rising Readers and the number of books being checked out increased strongly!  Click here to see the “super hero” creating all the excitement about books for students; and click here to see the woman behind the scenes.

November – December 2011

3rd annual Barnes & Noble’s “HOLIDAY BOOK DRIVE” benefiting K is for Kids Foundation at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Waterside Shops, Naples
Customers at Barnes & Noble purchased over $1,200 in new books for K is for Kids to distribute to children in need throughout Collier County through our three book donation programs!  Click here to see who we call our “dream team” at Barnes & Noble.

December 2011

Saturday, December 10th 2011, 7:00 p.m.
TEEN “HEAD TO TOE FASHION SHOW” presented Barron Collier High School & K is for Kids
This inaugural teen community project was created by two Gulf Coast High School students, Ali Martin and Erin Clawson, and ultimately saw over 105 students from around Collier County participate.  Hosted by Barron Collier High School, the Teen “Head to Toe” Fashion Show raised close to $5,000 in books and funds for K is for Kids’ RISING READERS program and a portion of that also benefited Barron Collier’s “Helping Hands for Prom” program.  Janelle Sventek, model chair, and Carla Badame, publicity chair, both students at Barron Collier, were also instrumental in making the show a big  success.  Over two dozen models showcased local clothing merchants’ fashions, plus twenty performers  provided entertainment for the show.  Click here to read more and here.  Click here to read see the kids who were were amongst the first to receive new books.

December through January 2011

“Ring the Bells Book Drive” for Immokalee Children at Farm Workers Village 

Friends and organizations helped ring in the New Year with new books for children in Immokalee by collecting over 1,000 books to give to the children.

Saturday, January 28, 2012
K is for Kids Teen Spokespersons shoot PSAs at ITZ Media Group’s new Production Studio in Naples
Our teen spokespersons recorded two PSAs and entered a sound booth to record a voice over for another.  The PSAs are aired on Comcast, the headline sponsor for K is for Kids! Click here to read more.

February 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012
K is for Kids’ Literacy Month Launched in Immokalee for children at Farm Workers Village
Books, authors and the “power of reading” were brought out to children in Immokalee.  It was a wonderful Book, Bring a Friend Fun’raiser for kids of all ages at the Farm Workers Village.  Click here to read more.

All Month

K is for Kids’ “BRING A FRIEND, BRING A FRIEND” for Children’s Literacy Month — let the Fun’raisers begin!

Recognized by Florida’s Governor Rick Scott with proclamations by Naples Mayor Bill Barnett and the Commissioners of Collier County, this important month celebrates two of life’s greatest treasures:  friends and books!  Started as an annual fun’raiser to help raise more books for students to read at one elementary school in Naples, Florida, now there are fun’raisers all month long throughout our literacy month in February.

We invite YOU to start a fun’raiser with your friends!  Click here to learn more about how to have a fun’raiser to help collect books for children in need in your community.

Saturday, February 11, 2012, noon to 5:00 p.m.
“Kids Celebrate Reading” at our 4th annual Bring a Book, Bring a Friend Book Fair & Fun’raiser at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Waterside Shops, Naples

Free and open to the public.

Don’t miss the biggest event of our fun’raising season!  Bring a Book, Bring a Friend to Barnes & Noble at Waterside Shops in Naples on Saturday, February 11th.  Our teens will be offering many free, fun’raising stations for children of all ages:  face painting, a scavenger hunt, story writing, prizes, raffles and more!

Kids will also get to meet our two guest authors, Lisa Fleming of “Cat and Crow: an amazing friendship” and Margaret Cardillo of “Just Being Audrey.”  Click here to read more.

This year Walt Timoney, family entertainer, will be balloon twisting and creating free fantastic hats, animals and more!

A portion of all proceeds raised from the book fair will go towards helping K is for Kids purchase new books for children in Collier County.  Whether guests purchase a book or a Nook, or a coffee in the Cafe’, just mention “K is for Kids!” and you’ll be making a donation helping children in need have more books to read!

March 2012

Saturday, March 3, 2012, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
K is for Kids’ Book Party at Barnes & Noble, Coconut Point, Estero.
A Southwest Florida Reading Festival partner event

“COOKIES AND COLORING” with children’s author LISA FLEMING of ”Cat and Crow, an amazing friendship”

Guest speaker H. Patrick Wooley, Ph.D, volunteer naturalist for the National Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary who will be telling guests surprising reasons why birds — especially crows — are smarter than we think!

Free and open to the public.

Kids of all ages are invited to a free “book party” with more fun’raising for children than we can say in one breath…all hosted by our teen volunteers and this time, Starbucks employees will join in to help our cause — teaching kids about the excitement of reading and the power of words!  Face painting, balloon twisting by family entertainer Walt Timoney, prizes, young authors book, and two raffles!  The grand prize winner will take home a complete set of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books, signed by Jeff Kinney!

Click here to read more.

March – April 2012

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
K is for Kids’ Big Book Giveaway!
Preview & Lunch at 11:30-12:30 pm, compliments of Cypress Self Storage
“Shopping” begins at 2:30 pm for high school books and
3:30 pm for younger reading books 

It’s K is for Kids’ first “Big Book Giveaway!”  This unique event, made possible by the incredible 10,000-book donation from the Book Warehouse upon its closing,  will coincide with K is for Kids annual distribution of books to grant recipients.

Cypress Self Storage has generously donated the use of four large air-conditioned storage rooms in which to store and display the books (K is for Kids’ teen volunteers decorated the rooms for Young Readers, Fiction and Nonfiction for Young Adults).  With thousands of books geared for advanced reading levels, K is for Kids is launching the giveaway by inviting ALL media specialists, reading coaches, education directors throughout Lee & Collier counties to come “shop” for free books for their high school students!  Cypress Self Storage is offering lunch for participants during the mid-day previewing, and light refreshments and drinks during the shopping — plus their popular golf cart rides to and from the building!

The giveaway will continue until all the books are distributed, with the doors opening for ALL teachers and educators throughout southwest Florida to come shop for books — for their students and themselves!

April 2012

Starbucks Book Drive Fun’raiser: Share the wealth of reading by donating a book for a child in need to read over the summer.

All Starbucks throughout Lee and Collier Counties, in recognition of the company’s “Global Month of Service,” are holding a book drive fun’raiser benefiting K is for Kids — customers are invited to drop off a book for a child.  Patrons may also make $1 and $5 donations, and sign their name on K is for Kids bookmarks that will be on display to show their support.

April – May 2012

“Power of Reading” Traveling Art Exhibition, a competition open to all Collier County middle school students.  Deadline is March 14th.

The second K is for Kids’ competitive art exhibition is again offering a unique opportunity for ‘tweens and teens throughout Collier County to visually express the power of words and reading.  Students will be focusing on current events and are encouraged to utilize newsprint and newsmagazines.

The top four winners will have their work exhibited in the Naples Art Association’s Art Library housed upstairs in the von Liebig Art Center throughout April and then all finalists will have their work displayed at the Vineyards Community Center.

 

 “Encourage today’s readers.  Inspire tomorrow’s leaders.”

www.KisforKids.org * email: info@KisforKids.org * 239.596.KIDS (5437)

K is for Kids® Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes children’s literacy and leadership.  Our teens and volunteers teach kids that reading is fun.  Each year K is for Kids partners with community leaders  to engage children early and often about the excitement of reading and the power of words.  From toddlers to teens, K is for Kids’ mission is to give kids in need more books to read.