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HAMPTON
ROADS
 At
Crossroads Elementary School, the chapter presented 217 new books to the
principal of the school for their library. Then, “Princess Elizabeth”
performed a play about recycling and conserving the Elizabeth River. The
46 children in attendance were enchanted by the Princess’s costume
and her story. LaSalle Blanks, from WVEC-TV, read “A River Ran Wild”
to the children. The story explained the importance of keeping our rivers
clean. Each child was given an autographed copy of the book to take home.
 Children
enjoyed a funny clown and were able to have their face painted. They received
a T-shirt, coloring books, bookmark, hand puppet, crayons, book bag and
10 books to take home. A chicken lunch was donated along with approximately
$750 in funds for the Reading Rally. Approximately 25 chapter members
volunteered and 6 teachers from Crossroads Elementary participated.
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 The
Harrisburg Chapter held their Reading Rally at the Harrisburg YWCA with
16 children and 9 volunteers in attendance. Children wrote stories in
a notebook, colored, drew and pasted pictures. After this activity, professional
storyteller Judy Wolfman read several stories to the children.
 Each
child selected 3 books to take home, along with goodie bags (filled with
items donated by member firms and sponsors) and a Reading Rally T-shirt.
Everyone enjoyed pizza, cookies and soft drinks. A video of the event
was given to the YWCA director for their library and extra journals were
offered to parents or children with cousins or siblings not in attendance.
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HONOLULU
The Reading Rally was held at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Kahala
Mall on October 23rd. Barnes & Noble publicized the event by creating
and displaying Reading Rally flyers in the store, and sending flyers to
two pre-schools in the area. The children posed for pictures with costumed
“wizard” Sherri Tamayose, and EWI volunteers read stories
and assisted the children with creating Halloween goodie bags filled with
candy, cookies, books, and writing materials. The children also enjoyed
cupcakes and pumpkin frappuccinos provided by Barnes & Noble.
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HOUSTON
 Last
year the Houston Chapter created a library out of a storage room at The
Ripley House Charter School. At the time the school was for grades K-3.
The school has since added a 4th grade and this year the Chapter provided
required reading materials for these students. A Book Fair held at their
October Chapter meeting raised $400 to purchase books. Two bookshelves
were also donated to the school library, which continues to expand.
On October 19th, 21 EWI member volunteers gave each child (approximately
100 children attended) T-shirts as they entered the school gymnasium.
Children’s book author, Steve Jones, read his new book “The
Ballad of Blue Eagle”, which is a compilation of stories his grandfather
told him as a child. His son, Steven Jones, Jr. illustrated the book.
 The
Houston Rockets Spanish radio announcers, Adrian Chavarria and Alex Parra
read the book “Stellaluna” to the children. The Rockets, kicking
off their literacy program “Read to Achieve”, gave each child
an official NBA pocket file folder, bookmarker as well as two Scholastic
books. Each child also received the Rocket’s goodie bags and enjoyed
mini muffins and orange juice courtesy of member firms and sponsors.
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HUNTSVILLE
The Chapter entertained children at the Harris Home for Children with
reading stories, bookmaking and sharing pizza.
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INDIANAPOLIS
 At
Ernie Pyle School #90, approximately 285 children (kindergarten -2nd grade),
were greeted by 15 EWI volunteers. Children entered the school gymnasium
at different time slots and were then divided into groups of 10 where
members read them a story. Then, an animated, interactive Halloween story
was read to them by Chapter president, Jennifer Matthews.
 Each
child was able to select 3 books to take home and also received a Reading
Rally T-shirt, bookmarks, crayons and other items in a goodie bag. 577
books were purchased from Scholastic and donated to the children and the
school’s library.
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JACKSONVILLE
The Jacksonville Chapter partnered with the “Principle Woods”
book series and Wal-Mart to present “A Day In Principle Woods”
at Community Connections, a transitional housing and essential support
services center. Twenty children enjoyed breakfast and a reading of stories
from the Principle Woods series on honesty. Illustrator Kevin Shore drew
pictures for the children. Along with 100 books donated by Chapter members
and by Principle Woods, the children received goodie bags filled with
crayons, pencils and paper.
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KANSAS
CITY
At the Salvation Army’s Children Shelter, six EWI volunteers arrived
to have dinner with approximately 30 children between the ages of 18 months
and 15 years. After dinner, each child received a Reading Rally T-shirt
which they wore for the remainder of the evening. Storyteller Nancy Stegeman,
from the Kansas City Public Library, told two wonderful stories to the
children. Each child then received a spiral bound book to write their
own story and chose two books for themselves from the 100 books the Chapter
brought. The balance of the books was donated to the Shelter.
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LEHIGH VALLEY
Ten EWI volunteers spent October 23rd at the Kidspeace facility with
25 children. They read books and help the children create pictures. Many
EWI members donated books, crayons, pens, pencils toys and the Reading
Rally T-shirt to the children.
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LITTLE ROCK
Little Rock Chapter members partnered with the Even Start Family Literacy
Program, a component of Parenting from Prison Program under the auspices
of The Centers for Youth and Families. The Reading Rally was held on October
16th at the Anthony School with approximately 30 children and 12 EWI volunteers
participating. Each child (ranging in age between 3 and 17 years) was
given a gift bag of crayons, toys and Reading Rally coloring sheet and
T-shirt. They each had a photo taken amidst the fall decorations. Smaller
versions of the photos were printed on site to use in greeting cards the
children made to give to their caregivers or to their incarcerated parent.
The children then listened to stories read by EWI members or colored the
logo coloring sheets. They enjoyed a pizza lunch and lemonade and received
several books to take home along with a gift bag of Halloween treats and
$10 gift card from Wal-Mart, and two 5” x 7” seasonal photos
that were taken of them. Many donations were received by member firms
and sponsors. $410 was donated by the Chapter to the Even Start Family
Literacy Program for the purchase of books.
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LONG BEACH
Authors Bobbie and David Weiss visited the children of Constellation
Community Middle School on October 21st to help the children discover
the creative authors inside each of them. They gave instruction on story
structure (beginning, middle and end) and encouraged the students to write
and illustrate their own stories. EWI members along with volunteers from
the Long Beach City College Human Services Club distributed T-shirts (donated
by K-Mart) to 33 students and held an ice cream party. EWI members raised
$400 to purchase books for the children. Each child chose one book and
the remaining funds were used to purchase additional books for the school’s
library and provide seed money for the new “Reading Club”
formed as a result of the excitement generated by the Reading Rally.
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MEMPHIS
The Reading Rally was held at the Tennessee Baptist Children’s
Home on November 6th. The home houses 24 children, ages 5-16 living in
four cottages on the grounds with house parents. Chapter members worked
with students and faculty from the Physics and Theatre Departments of
Rhodes College to entertain and teach the children the importance of being
a good reader.
Physics experiments provided interactive, hands-on excitement for the
children. They all received a T-shirt and backpack stuffed with a pencil
box, sweet treats, toothbrush/toothpaste, etc. The Chapter held a book
drive to supply each cottage with books.
 The
event was capped with a pizza party, drinks, cupcakes and balloons. Nineteen
volunteers were involved and many member firms and representatives donated
materials for the Reading Rally.
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MILWAUKEE
 The
Chapter held a fund raiser where donations were either a book or a “buck”
to benefit the Journey House. At the end of the three-month rally, EWI
members held a read-a-thon with the children. Approximately 20 children
and 5 volunteers were involved. Forty books and 20 back packs were donated
to Journey House.
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MINNEAPOLIS
A donation of $500 to The Jeremiah Program, along with $250 in children’s
books, was made by the Minneapolis Chapter. The Chapter has supported
The Jeremiah Program since 1997. The Program provides housing, childcare
and support to low-income, single women with children under the age of
four. They do this by providing mothers with access to affordable housing,
childcare, health care, support services and meaningful employment. Currently,
there are 47 children residing at Jeremiah. The $500 will be used to repair
the computers in their pre-school classroom and to purchase CD-ROM educational
programs for the children.
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MOBILE
At the Dearborn YMCA 37 first and second graders enjoyed the story “Spirit
Earns His Bandana”. Books were donated by Qwest Foundation and read
by community leader, Percy Harris, Fireman-Chaplin of the City of Mobile
Fire Department. Each child enjoyed refreshments, goodie bags and T-shirt.
They especially enjoyed receiving a new book, “Officer Buckle and
Gloria”, which is a Scholastic Literacy Partner suggested book.
Many member firms and sponsors provided food and items for the goodie
bags.
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MONTGOMERY
 In
partnership with the Pintala Elementary School, located in a rural community
outside the city limits of Montgomery, six EWI volunteers hosted 39 first-grade
children for their Reading Rally held on October 21st. The children were
divided into two groups and members read them one of their favorite stories.
The children were encouraged to ask questions and discuss the story. The
children were then given washable paint, brushes and canvas bags to paint
in keeping with our reading theme. After lunch, the children and EWI members
returned to the classrooms, broke into smaller groups, and the children
showed off their reading skills. Afterwards, the groups played a word
Bingo game in which they all won prizes. Before leaving, each teacher
received a bag filled with company give-away items as pencils, crayons,
coloring books, calculators, Chapstick, band-aids, and more.
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NASHVILLE
A Reading Rally was held at the Fall Hamilton Elementary for 15 children.
Kelly Derry and Charlotte Gascho read stories to the children. Member
firms donated T-shirts, books, Beanie Babies, and refreshments for the
children and 7 EWI volunteers participated in the rally. The Chapter also
donated $2,000 to fund pre-kindergarten programs and $1,000 to fund adult
literacy programs through the Nashville Alliance for Public Education.
These donations marked the beginning of an on-going partnership for literacy
in the Nashville community. The $2,000 provided computer software for
pre-kindergarten programs at six schools to help prepare the children
for kindergarten – children that would otherwise start school not
knowing their letters, colors and numbers and fall quickly behind. The
$1,000 donation went towards adult literacy and paid for a school counselor
to help the parents of children at two metro schools learn reading and
how to help their children with their homework, as well as basic computer
and parenting skills – all of which will help break the cycle of
illiteracy.
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NEW ORLEANS
 Hundreds
of new books were donated by EWI members at the 2004 EWI Leadership Conference
and Annual Meeting (LCAM) which was held in New Orleans in September.
New Orleans Chapter members spent a great deal of time coordinating LCAM
and so decided to distribute the books in lieu of their annual Reading
Rally event. The books were transported to Waldemar S. Nelson & Company
for packing and distribution to the two schools. Mr. Waldemar S. Nelson
was there for the delivery himself. The schools were very grateful and
it was a wonderful benefit that all of the books were given to our local
schools. Thank you all members of Executive Women International.
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NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 On
October 30, the chapter held a Halloween Reading Rally at the Fayetteville
Library. Children enjoyed face painting and making Halloween picture frames.
Chapter president Claudia Smith entertained the children by reading several
books. Magicians Impossible wowed them with their entertaining magic show.
“Blue Ann Ewe” from Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield and “Crime
Fighting McGruff” from the University of Arkansas made special appearances.
The children also had a parade around the new Fayetteville Library with
a costume contest following. Approximately 80 children and 10 volunteers
participated in the event.
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