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Posts tagged New Jersey
New Books for Victims of Hurricane Sandy
Nov02
2012
Written by Brian Minter
2012
Written by Brian Minter
As first-responders are working to provide these families with electricity, water, and other critical resources, First Book—in partnership with our local volunteers and partners—is raising funds to restock school and home libraries. After distributing more than 5 million books in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we know new books can be valuable lifelines for those whose worlds have been turned upside down.
Your help will ensure that children in need will have new books — stories at bedtime, the chance to be transported to another world, and the opportunity to return to normalcy.
Every $2.50 you contribute will provide a new book to a child affected by the storm.
Your impact will also be DOUBLED as each gift of $2.50 will be matched by an additional book from First Book’s publishing partners.
One Cake, Two Cakes, Cat Cake, Hat Cake
Jul02
2012
Written by Erica Perl
2012
Written by Erica Perl
Guess who has a supporting role in an upcoming episode of CAKE BOSS? That’s right – First Book! Newark Mayor Cory Booker and the Cat in the Hat worked alongside CAKE BOSS Buddy Valastro to help bring thousands of books to kids in Newark. But concocting a culinary confection honoring the good Doctor is no small feat. Did fur and frosting fly? Did Cory Booker trade his usual Superman cape for the iconic striped hat? Tune in to find out! The episode airs tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST on TLC.
How did First Book end up in such esteemed company? As regular readers of this blog will recall, First Book participated in a very special Read Across America celebration this March in Newark. Working with some great local partners (like the Foundation for Newark’s Future, New Jersey After 3, and Anne Feeley), First Book helped the My Very Own Library initiative provide almost 60,000 brand-new books to students at eight Title I public schools in Newark.
In addition to receiving great books that they got to select themselves, the “icing on the cake” for the kids was a visit from Buddy Valastro and the team from Carlo’s bakery. Buddy talked about Dr. Seuss and the power of reading and imagination before unveiling an amazing, multi-tiered, whirling Dr. Seuss-inspired cake that he and his crew dreamed up and created for the event.
We think you’ll agree that the final creation was truly amazing. And from being there to see and taste the final results, we can report that it was delicious. The best part, though, was seeing the kids’ faces as they sat down with their brand new books and cake. One child looked so excited we feared he was going to topple over! Instead, he carefully sat down, took a bite, then opened his book and began to read.
If you’d like to support First Book’s work, volunteer in your community, or sign up your Title I school or local nonprofit to get new books, we’d love to hear from you.
Bringing Books to the Garden State
Written by 
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!