Thank you for all your donations and support for Basket for Books! We are still short of our of 1200 Book Packs.  There are THREE easy ways to help:

1) DONATE BOOKS. Here’s the list of books we need and there are several ways to help gather the books:

• Donate new and gift quality used books (without torn pages or writing) appropriate for K-6th grades.

• Purchase new books for the book drive at Hooray for Books in Old Town.  Make your purchase by phone or in person and receive a 15% discount by mentioning “Summer Reading Packs.”  Hooray for Books will store the books and deliver them to the Book Sort for you.  How easy is that?  HOORAY!

• Purchase new books from your favorite retailer.

Drop off your books, or have them shipped to Wright to Read, 414 N. Washington St., Ste.101, Alexandria, VA 22314. 703-299-9855. Note this is a NEW LOCATION.

2) TOO BUSY TO SHOP?  CONSIDER A MONETARY DONATION. Since Wright to Read can purchase books at a deep discount, your donation goes a lot farther!  Each summer reading pack costs about $6.00.  Email me, Tricia Karppi, to let me know how much you would like to contribute. Make your check out to The Giving Circle / ACT, write “Baskets for Books” in the memo line and mail it to me at 8206 Collingwood Court, Alexandria, Va 22308.

3)  Join other Giving Circle Members at the Book Sort and Pack on Sunday, March 14 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at Wright to Read, 414 N. Washington St., Suite 101. Volunteers may park in the lot behind the building.  Enter the parking lot from Columbus Street, then walk through the covered garage and through the red door to enter the building.

Thank you for your support and I hope to see you on Sunday!

Despite the snow last month, there is a lot going on!

Take a moment to learn about the work Giving Circle member, Sherry Delaney, is doing with The Safety Net Project.  The Safety Net Project is a program of her own creation and based on a philosophy similar to that of our Giving Circle. This is an inspiring story, so grab a cup of tea and scroll down to find out more.

We have some fun opportunities for service and socialization coming up:

- Membership Open House on March 2, 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the home of Caren Camp, 208 S. St. Asaph Street.
- Baskets for Books on March 6 from 10:00 am to noon at the home of Jenny Considine, Jefferson Court between S. Pitt and S. Royal off Wilkes St.
- Book Sort on March 14 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at Wright to Read, 414 N. Washington St. Suite 101.
- Circle Time on Tuesday, March 16 at 7:00 pm at the Del Merei Grill, 3106 Mount Vernon Avenue (where Calvert Grill used to be).

Continue reading for more details about these events.  And go ahead and mark your calendars now….after all this snow, I bet many of us could use a little fun!

Only a couple more weeks left in our annual book drive with Wright to Read and we still have a lot of work to do!  The goal is 1200 summer reading packs for Alexandria children. There are several ways to help:

GATHER BOOKS FOR THE BOOK DRIVE
Donate new or used gift-quality books appropriate for K through 6th grades, purchase books at Hooray for Books (15% discount when you mention “summer reading packs”) and let them store and deliver them for you, or purchase books from your favorite retailer. Find out more about donating books.

COME TO BASKETS FOR BOOKS TO RAISE MONEY

PACK AND SORT BOOKS:

When you sponsor a book for an entire grade, Wright to Read purchases 150 copies of that book to be included in the Summer Reading Packs. Check out the details and donation levels.

ALIVE’s Child Development Center wins Four Stars!

Congratulations to ALIVE!’s Child Development Center for achieving a 4 star rating in Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative.  This initiative recognizes quality childcare programs committed to continuous improvement. Participation in this Initiative is voluntary and defines four standards of quality:

1) education, qualifications and training of staff;
2) interactions between staff and students, and peers;
3) structure or ratio of adults to children; and
4) environment and instruction, including transition practices between pre-K and Kindergarten.

Each program receives a “star” rating from one to five. One star means the program exceeds minimal licensing requirements and is on a quality improvement path.  Five stars means the the program exceeds requirements in all areas to an unusual degree.

To date, no program in Virginia has received five stars.  However, in Alexandria, ALIVE! Child Development Center received a 4-star rating on February 16, 2010!!

The good news about the Virginia Star Quality Initiative is the work does not stop with a rating.  After receiving a rating, participating programs receive a mentor who works with staff to improve the program.  This improvement piece is what sets this program apart from other accreditation and rating systems.  Programs that participate in this Initiative will receive ratings every two years, ensuring an ongoing commitment to improving the quality of early childhood experiences.

Clearly, our grant to ALIVE! that will underwrite materials and equipment to help implement the curriculum is at the ALIVE Child Development Center is money well-invested.

Do you have good news to share about a current or past Giving Circle Gift Recipient?  Click comment and let us know.

You might already know Sherry Delaney. She’s been part of the Giving Circle long enough not to be sure when she joined, been involved with the Alexandria Red Cross, the Early Childhood Commission of Alexandria and chairs the ACPS Talented and Gifted Advisory Board.  But do you know about the Safety Net Project, created by Sherry to make it easy for people in Alexandria to directly and immediately help families in need?

“The Safety Net Project is a network of community donors who commit to provide a single $25 gift card to an Alexandria City Public School when an in-school social worker identifies a family in need. These small gifts tide families through short-term emergencies until they can be connected with available social services. The program also helps working families who are over income for many social service programs, but still one illness or missed paycheck away from financial crisis. Donors receive an e-mail when their gift is needed and they deliver the gifts directly to the schools. The commitment to our donors is to ask for a gift card only once or twice in a calendar year.” There is more to this story, just make the click and find out! Read the rest of this entry »

Support the Giving Circle and Wright to Read Book Drive.  Three easy ways to participate this week!

1) Basket for Books is this SUNDAY, February 28 at Burgundy Farm Country Day School from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Join Giving Circle Members and their families for an afternoon of shooting hoops and other basketball games to raise money for books.   Download and print a form to sponsor your children in these games. Wright to Read gets a great price on books from Scholastic so your contribution goes a long way for a good cause.

2) Can’t come to Baskets for Books?  Donate new and gift quality used books (without torn pages or writing) appropriate for K-6th grades. Check out the list, then purchase new books at Hooray for Books in Old Town by phone or in person. Mention “Summer Reading Packs” and receive a 15% discount.  Hooray for Books will store the books for you and deliver to the Book Sort.  You may also shop online or in person at your favorite retailer.  Drop off or have your books ship to Wright to Read , 414 N. Washington St., Ste.101, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-299-9855.  This is a NEW LOCATION.

3) Too busy digging out from snow to shoot hoops or go shopping? Consider a flat donation to Basket for Books. Wright to Read will use all money received to buy books for summer reading packs!  Email me, Tricia Karppi, to let me know how much your would like to contribute. Make your check out to The Giving Circle / ACT, write “Baskets for Books” in the memo line and mail it to me at 8206 Collingwood Court, Alexandria, Va 22308.

Thank you for your support and I hope to see you on Sunday!