Posts tagged kpmg

15,000 New Books on the National Mall, Plus Celebrities, Cabinet Secretaries and Cute Kids

Jan21
2013 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

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On Saturday, volunteers from across the country joined First Book on the National Mall in Washington DC to celebrate President Obama’s National Day of Service by providing 15,000 brand-new books to DC-area children from low-income families.

Click here to see photos of the event, including pictures of volunteers, political leaders, and even a few celebrities.

First Book was one of seven nonprofits featured at the event, highlighting the idea of community service in such areas as education, the environment and support for military families.

Each volunteer packed two books into a bag, and decorated bookplates with personal messages.

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The books, including “Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Doreen Rappaport, were provided thanks to the generous support of our friends at KPMG, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, through its KPMG’s Family for Literacy program.

The bags will be distributed in the coming days to students throughout DC, thanks to First Book’s partnership with the American Federation of Teachers.

signing

Even if you weren’t able to join us on the National Mall, you can still bring new books to kids in need. Click here to donate to our National Day of Service Virtual Book Drive. Every $2.50 provides one new books to a child in need.

Posted in Authors & Illustrators, Book Distributions, Books & Reading, First Book Events, First Book Partners, KPMG, Virtual Book Drives, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Operation Bookitecture!

Jan11
2013 Gina Rullo Written by Gina Rullo

Operation Bookitecture: KPMG’s Creative Way to Donate 49,000 Books to Kids in Need through First BookKPMG’s Family for Literacy brightened the holiday season for children across the country by bringing more than 49,000 brand new books to children in need as part of their firm-wide community service project, Operation Bookitecture. This was no ordinary book drive, however.  Nearly 3,000 KPMG employees in 70 offices across the country conceived, designed and constructed familiar and whimsical structures out of the books before donating them to local programs serving children in need.

The creative structures were built as part of an office contest, of which our own Kyle Zimmer, CEO and President of First Book, was an esteemed judge. Entries depicted a wide range of scenes and structures, including cityscapes, a pirate ship, an ice skating rink, an igloo, various bridges, a castle, several East coast lighthouses, an Iditarod dog sled, different sports arenas, iconic towers and buildings (one complete with its own King Kong), a giant saguaro cactus, a Puerto Rican “guarita,” and even “A Streetcar Named Literacy.”

Operation Bookitecture: KPMG’s Creative Way to Donate 49,000 Books to Kids in Need through First BookBut who was the winner, you ask? There were actually two! Atlanta won the large office competition with their Reading Room and Ft. Lauderdale won the small office competition with Book City. Both of the winning offices received $2,500 to provide additional books to local First Book programs. We’d expect no less from our friends at KPMG!

Which office created your favorite structure? You be the judge!

Posted in Book Structures, First Book Partners, First Book Supporters, KPMG - Tagged , ,

A Million Dollar Shot – KPMG’s Chip4Charity

Oct15
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Normally we at First Book spend our evenings reading award-winning children’s literature, of course, but tonight we’ll be glued to our TV sets for Monday Night Football, watching golf legend Phil Mickelson trying to make a $1 million shot at halftime.

If he makes it 100% of that money will go to First Book, and that means as many as 400,000 brand-new books for kids from low-income families. The challenge comes from our friends at KPMG, whose commitment to putting books into the hands of kids in need runs deep. It’s all part of KPMG’s Family for Literacy program and their new “Blue for Books” campaign, which has provided more than 20,000 new books since March.

At the game, Mickelson will stand in one end zone, aiming for a target in the other end zone. KPMG will donate a minimum of $50,000 to First Book (that’s 20,000 brand-new books), and up to $1 million for a bulls-eye shot. In the hands of a lesser golfer this might be a problem, but we’re not worried. Go Phil!

Phil Mickelson's million dollar shot for First Book

You can help KPMG and Phil get books to kids by donating to First Book. Every $2.50 pays for a brand-new book for a child in need. Or you can show your support through KPMG’s ‘Blue for Books’ campaign by buying Phil’s Blue Hat. For every hat purchased, KPMG will donate three new books. To learn more, visit philsbluehat.com.

Posted in First Book Events, First Book Partners, Philanthropy - Tagged , , , , , ,

The Hat That Gives Back

Jul19
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Are you looking for a great gift this summer for the golfer in your life? How about a gift that gives back?

Phil Mickelson, KPMG and First Book join forces to bring new books to kids in needGolf champion Phil Mickelson has joined forces with our friends at the audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG to launch ‘Blue for Books,’ a nationwide campaign designed to put thousands of books into the hands of children in need through the sale of KPMG blue golf hats, just like the one that Phil wears on tour.

Net proceeds from sales of the hat will go directly to providing new books to kids in need through First Book.

Visit Phil’s microsite to learn more about the hat and the program, and see a video featuring Phil on the links.

Fine print: For one year, beginning March 15, 2012, KPMG will donate 100% of the net proceeds ($7.50) from each hat purchased to First Book, with a guaranteed contribution of $50,000, enabling the donation of three books to children in need for each hat sold.

Posted in Books & Reading, First Book Partners - Tagged , , , , ,

All Our Friends In Pittsburgh

May26
2011 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

KPMG volunteers in Pittsburgh helped First Book ship 400,000 booksFirst Book’s National Book Bank team just got home from Pittsburgh, where they boxed, labeled and shipped 400,000 books to kids in need all over the country, from Jacksonville to Santa Monica.

READ MORE »

Posted in Book Distributions, First Book Partners, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Community Spotlight: Northport Elementary School

Nov16
2010 Written by Marie Madsen

Thank you note from a student

Northport Elementary School, a Title I School in Minnesota, has been a First Book Recipient Group for over 3 years. This October they hosted an event with the support of KPMG, providing brand new books for each child to take home.

Check out the below interview with Lori Wolfe, Basic Skills Coordinator and Instructional Coach on Northport Elementary, to learn more about the school and the impact of their recent event with KPMG.

How many children do you serve and what are their age ranges? We have approximately 600 students from the ages of 5 to 12 years old.

How many books have you received from First Book since you registered? Around 5,800 books

How did you learn about First Book? From a referral from another principal

How do you use First Book books? We use the books we receive through First Book for independent choice reading both at home and at school. This year we are going to have a fourth grade book club centering around the books the children are given.

Tell us about the major event KPMG held at your school in October. We had the most awesome event in October!  For this kick off of the 2010/2011 school year, we were fortunate enough to have Susan Flynn as a special guest for this reading. Susan is co-founder of KPMG’s Family for Literacy program that engages the entire KPMG community of employees, interns, alumni and families. The program is run in collaboration with First Book. Susan is also a member of the First Book Board of Directors.

Additionally, Erica S. Perl, an award-winning children’s book author, joined us for breakfast as well as an assembly that she led with 100 students from the 2nd grade. Erica’s new picture book, Dotty, was published in August 2010. A special thanks to Erica for traveling from Washington, D.C. to share this day with us.

How has KPMG made a difference on the children you serve? KPMG has made a HUGE difference in the lives of the children in our school.  Many of our students do not have any books of their own at home so six books a year “to keep” is so special to them. Many of them do not get to hear anyone other than their teacher read to them so they enjoy listening to the readers from KPMG.  It means a great deal to the students to have positive role models come in and take a part of their busy day to spend time with them and read.  What a great life lesson for our students!

Posted in Books & Reading, First Book Events, First Book Partners - Tagged ,

Bringing Literacy to Music City

Oct08
2010 Written by Julia F.

After months of delay, I was finally able to travel down to Nashville last week and work with the First Book National Book Bank team to distribute 400,000 books from Disney Publishing and Flowerpot Press.

The books originally arrived at the Feed the Children warehouse in April, but tragedy struck when flash floods ravaged the city of Nashville. The flooding completely ruined the lower level of the warehouse as well as other local landmarks and national treasures. Thankfully, the First Book books were stored on the second level of the warehouse and remained undamaged. Both the warehouse and the city of Nashville quickly began recovery and rebuilding efforts and after a few months, Anna, Rachael, Andrew and I were able to start distributing books in Music City.

Our first day was filled with labels, stickers, and more labels. Enthusiastic volunteers from Pi Beta Phi, KPMG, SunTrust and Target helped us to sort, label, and prepare thousands of boxes of books for shipment across the country. If ever anyone was feeling a little dusty or sore, we just kept reminding ourselves, “Books to kids! Books to kids!” There truly is no better way to motivate yourself than to look around and read shipping labels for a small school in Maine, an afterschool program in Michigan, or a daycare center in California and imagine the look of joy on a child’s face when they realize they get to keep this book!

We heard several wonderful stories about these looks of joy when some recipient groups picked up their books on Wednesday and Thursday. One group drove over 6 hours to pick up books for the children they serve! All the groups continually thanked us and said how happy their underprivileged students would be with their brand new books. Talk about job satisfaction!

Friday was filled with reflection (and pancakes from the Pancake Pantry!) as we discussed how smoothly the week had gone. This would not have been possible without the incredible support from the Feed the Children warehouse staff, our tireless volunteers, our generous corporate and publishing partners and of course all of the recipient groups that are so committed to giving children a brighter future.

With perfect weather, friendly people, and delicious food, I couldn’t have asked for a better city to host my first distribution. In short – Nashville was amazing!

Posted in Book Distributions - Tagged , , ,

R.L. Stine Helps to Celebrate KPMG’s Family for Literacy 1 Million Book Milestone

Nov10
2009 Written by Melinda H.

RL Stine reads to PS 161 kids in HarlemRenowned children’s author R.L. Stine recently joined First Book in celebrating the distribution of one million books that KPMG’s Family for Literacy has made possible during the first two years of our partnership with the audit, tax, and advisory firm.

Just in time for the author’s favorite holiday, the Halloween celebration took place at a school in Harlem where Mr. Stine shared that nothing scares him more than the thought of kids growing up without books. The message was well received by the students, who greeted Mr. Stine with rock star adoration. A group of older students on the playground recognized him and flocked to him – saying how much they loved his Goosebumps, Fear Street and latest Goosebumps HorrorLand books and sharing how cool it was to have him at their school.  Mick Jagger couldn’t have felt more loved by his fans.

Thanks to generous contributions of funding and volunteer time by KPMG partners, staff and their families and friends, First Book has been able to reach tens of thousands of children with wonderful new books. First Book is especially grateful to Susan Flynn and Beth Veihmeyer who helped originate KPMG’s Family for Literacy which has quickly proven to be an innovative model for engaging partners, employees, alumni, retirees, and interns, as well as their families and friends in a shared cause that benefits the educational needs of children in need in KPMG communities nationwide.

Posted in Authors & Illustrators, Books & Reading, First Book Events - Tagged , , , ,

Bringing Books to the Garden State

Aug31
2009 Written by Bonnie J.

NJ crest

NEW JERSEY! The Garden State, The Clam State, The Pathway of Revolution and the lesser known Switzerland of America! Last Monday, three of my First Book colleagues and I traveled north along Interstate 95 to New Jersey, where we experienced many of the state’s nicknames and helped to further the “The Pathway of Revolution” by distributing more than 200,000 new books throughout the Garden State and beyond.

Although we were only there for a short time, we were able to distribute popular books such as Movable Mother Goose by Robert Sabuda and Nature Science by award-winning authors Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone to over 100 First Book Recipient Groups. Of those groups, more than 20 organizations were able to pick their books up in North Brunswick, New Jersey thanks to the generous donation of warehouse space by Feed the Children, while the remaining groups will have their books shipped right to their programs.

Looking around an empty warehouse after two long days of hard work, it’s hard to believe that the 200,000 books that filled the same space just a few days earlier have been given to groups all around the United States. This change is always humbling, exciting and reminds us that without the tremendous support of our partners – Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Sterling Publishing Company, the Feed the Children warehouse and numerous KPMG volunteers and their families – we wouldn’t have been able to make such a large impact!

Posted in Books & Reading - Tagged , , , , , , ,

Books to Romeoville and Beyond!

Jul20
2009 Written by Nisha T.

Last week, I travelled with the First Book team to Romeoville, Illinois to distribute over 400,000 books to children across the nation. I was very excited to get my first on-the-ground look at a book distribution from start to finish. The books donated by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing included approximately seventy different titles, ranging from bath books to bilingual books.

First Book was able to house the books and then prepare them for shipment or pickup to serve groups benefitting children from low-income Nisha and Heather at the Romeoville distributionfamilies thanks to warehouse space donated by Hub One Logistics. An extra special thanks goes out to Manny at the Hub One warehouse who helped ensure that these books ended up in the right hands in a timely fashion.

In addition, I’d like to thank KPMG for supplying volunteers to assist in this large undertaking. Their hard work and enthusiasm made this distribution run with ease and efficiency.

Vehicles of all sizes rolled up to the warehouse where groups received anywhere from four to over two hundred boxes of books. While many recipient groups had books shipped to them, some groups were able to pick up their boxes of books on Tuesday and Wednesday during the distribution at no cost. It was so rewarding to see a recipient’s face light up at the sight of so many boxes of books, knowing how much they would improve the lives of the children they so admirably serve.

Posted in Book Distributions - Tagged ,
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