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THE READER

ABOUT US

EVENTS

VOLUNTEER

July 2024

NEWS

ROR-KC Board Updates for Fiscal Year 2025


THANK YOU!

The Reach Out and Read team and board expresses our gratitude to Derek Gale and July Jean Cuevas, M.D. for their service on the board with their term ending this past month.


Thank you to Eli Colmenero for his time on the Executive Team as he transitions back to membership.


NEW ADDITIONS AND APPOINTMENTS


The ROR-KC board is excited to welcome new members April Soberon and Zach Jarjoura to the board for the Fiscal Year 2025.


We'd also like to announce Taylor Worthington as FY25 Board Chair, Ben Gebhards as Past Board Chair and Marissa Steele as Vice Chair.


We are excited to do great work in the upcoming year and continue to serve children and families in the Kansas City community.

35 for 35 - in celebration of Reach Out and Read milestone year


35 for 35 is a collection celebrating the millions of families transformed across the 35-year journey of Reach Out and Read — and the millions more we will soon reach. We could think of no better way to celebrate this important milestone than with this new, vital collection, curated with Scholastic and filled with inclusive stories about all families, communities, and cultures.


Reach Out and Read clinicians are sharing 350,000 newly printed books with children across the country. When they snuggle up to read with a caregiver, they’ll find fun stories of kids who look like them and families like their own … or they’ll discover the relatable lives of others, seen through an open window.


Through all 35 titles, from authors and illustrators both acclaimed and emerging, families can experience the joys of reading, learning, and building early relationships.


Explore reachoutandread.org/35for35 to find books to share with the young children in your life, to learn about the authors behind the award-winning titles, to catch the just-dropped 35 for 35 ep. of the #RORPodcast, and to help us place these books in the hands of the families who need them.

Clinic Success Story


“We have had some great feedback from families. A few months ago, I had a family that spoke Swahili and we gave the child a book in their language and the child told their parents that they were excited because they'd never seen a book in the U.S. in their language before. I had another family come in, Spanish speaker, and they got siblings books in Spanish and they were so excited.” – Makenzie Lyon, Jackson County Health Dept.


We are so thankful to donors and supporters like you who help us to provide more opportunities for families to connect through shared reading like this example above.

EVENTS


Friday, September 20th

Books on Tap at Chicken N Pickle Overland Park

Early Bird Ticket Sales open in August

Make it a fun family night! We will have kids activities!


Interested in serving as a sponsor?

Contact Abbie Bliss, abliss3@kumc.edu to secure your sponsorship today!


Thank you to our pre-committed sponsors for this year's event!


Pamela Miller & Michael Cummings

Sallie Page-Goertz & Kenn Goertz

Jim & Peggy Andra

Teresa & Tom Walsh

All About Books

Cathy & Joe McCaddon

Ascend Learning

Laura & Lewis Gregory

Tanya Rodecker Wendt & Sam Wendt

Anne and Bill Blessing

MVP Law

Kathy Palermo

Lucas Commercial Flooring

MarksNelson

MEDICAL MINUTE

by Sallie Page-Goertz, MN, APRN, IBCLC

Summer is a VERY busy time for those of us caring for children: sports physicals for teens have to be done after May 1st; kindergarten physicals; preschool physicals; 4 year old immunizations; shot records and of course caring for kids who’ve experienced the typical summertime illnesses and injuries – from poison ivy to broken bones. Every day I am so thankful to have a great supply of new books for my patients birth to age 5 as well as those gently used ones for older kids and those coming in for ill visits. It makes the visits more fun as well as more efficient. Simply watching how a child and their family interact with the book for a couple of minutes tells me so much about the child’s development. 

 

Continue to full article here


STEFANIE'S BOOKSHELF


by Stefanie Estes, M.L.S.

Together We Swim by Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita


Age Range: 18 months–4 years

 

It’s summertime and swimming season has arrived! Lots of little ones are dipping their toes in the pool for the first time and learning how to swim. Trying new things, like swimming, can feel scary and books are an excellent tool to help kiddos get acclimated and ready to do something they haven’t done before. Together We Swim is a wonderful introduction to safe swimming. Using simple rhyming text, readers follow a boy learning to swim with his family. He wears a swim vest, uses a pool noodle and kickboard, practices kicking, and works with his mom to get comfortable in the water.


Continue to full article here.

 

– Stefanie Estes, M.L.S.

VOLUNTEER CORNER

Shout out to all of our amazing volunteers!

We couldn't do it without you.

Volunteers in June


Hannah Ahlsten

Raisa Akram

Pat Brown

Sally Clark

Teresa Foss

Regina Irwin

Patti Jachowicz

Dmitry Kholodov

Ruby Nelson

Lisa Nickel

Margarita Watson



Book Donations


  • Jewish Community Center donated 71 books
  • Tre Glasper donated 3 books
  • Betse Gage donated 88 books
  • Mary Funk donated 33 books



Want to be a Reach Out & Read KC volunteer? Click here to sign up!

Books on Tap Volunteers Needed!


Join the Books on Tap event planning committee. Those interested should click the link below to complete a volunteer application and select event committee volunteer under types of volunteers. The committee meets the following dates:


Monday, August 12 at 5:00PM

Monday, September 9 at 5:00PM


The event is Friday, September 20th at Chicken and Pickle - Overland Park


Volunteer Sign Up


To receive info to join the upcoming event committee meeting, email Abbie Bliss at abliss3@kumc.edu

Play a word game


You have six tries to get this 6 letter word right!

Hint: An action kids do in a pool


Did you figure it out? Post on your social media page and tag @rorkc in it! The answer will be in our September newsletter.


Click here to play


May's answer: Summer

You Can Make A Difference


When you make a gift to Reach Out and Read Kansas City, you make it possible for families to read together. Your donations are used to purchase new children's books and deliver them directly to medical providers throughout the area to be used during well-child visits for children birth – age 5. Providers talk to parents about the importance of a reading routine and then the book is sent home with the family with a ‘prescription’ to read daily.

Give a Gift Today


reachoutandreadkc.org

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