You read that correctly: the lowest-priced tickets to THE PLAYERS Championship in March are available through READ USA!
READ USA is an approved Chip-in for Charity nonprofit, so we receive $40 from every competition-day ticket sold using our promo code (305FTE) – and you receive the most affordable tickets available!
We’re serious: Competition-day ticket prices won’t go up between now and Feb. 28 through Chip-in for Charity!
Team READ USA is grateful to THE PLAYERS Championship for providing this fantastic opportunity for golf fans to attend the tournament AND support literacy – all in one action!
Remember to use our promo code: 305FTE
Some things to keep in mind:
Thank you to THE PLAYERS Championship and PGA Tour for all they do for our community all year!
Holiday Fun at Emmett Reed Community Center
READ USA joined Mayor Donna Deegan’s River City Readers, READ JAX, Kids Hope Alliance (KHA), and a number of community partners for a day of family fun at the Hope for Christmas Jolly Jamboree this weekend!
Over 500 attendees from the community surrounding the Center of Hope at the Emmett Reed Community Center enjoyed free lunch, games and activities, raffles, a gingerbread decorating contest – and of course, free books provided by Mayor Donna Deegan’s River City Readers and READ USA!
“Families are always so wonderfully surprised the books are FREE!” shared our Senior Operations Director Stephanie Darilus, who manned the table alongside representatives from the City of Jacksonville. “Everybody gets so excited. Parents were able to also take books for other children at home who were unable to attend. Mayor Donna Deegan’s River City Readers always gets such positive feedback in the community, not only with the free books, but with the challenge the mayor extended to the community to read, read, read! It really is resonating with people and it’s wonderful to see.”
Thank you to the Center of Hope at the Emmett Reed Community Center, READ JAX, KHA, and Mayor Donna Deegan’s River City Readers for inviting READ USA to share in the fun with you all!
What You Make Possible
You know the many FREE, year-round book events READ USA hosts? Well, those are only possible because of one reason: our donors.
For every $30 donated, READ USA provides two free books to two children. And because most of our events occur at Title I schools and in under-resourced communities, without our donors, many of these children would not have had a chance to own books.
For every $300 donated, we can provide free books to 10 children – and for every $3,000 donated, that’s free books for 100 children! (We really like this easy math, since, well, we obviously prefer words!)
The READ USA Book Club is the perfect opportunity to put free books into local children’s hands and homes. And it’s only $30 a month – less than a tank of gas, while taking our children’s hearts and minds on a journey MUCH farther than any tank of gas would!
Through the Book Club, your monthly support has a direct impact on the lives of young readers.
Children’s Book: Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Red and Green and Blue and White is inspired by a true story that occurred in 1993 in Billings, Montana. It is a tale of a community that bonded together to spread light.
It’s the holiday season that both Isaac and Teresa have looked forward to for months! They’ve been counting the days, playing in the snow, making cookies, drawing (Teresa) and writing poems (Isaac). They enjoy all the things they share, as well as the things that make them different. Teresa and most of the neighborhood have their homes “dressed up” in red and green lights, but one house shone blue and white. On Chanukah, Isaac lights the menorah in his front window, making his house glow blue and white in the night.
When a rock smashes Isaac’s window, his family is afraid to light their Menorah. But if they didn’t light it, that would be like hiding and “That didn’t feel right.” In a simple act of compassion and friendship, Isaac’s best friend and neighbor, Teresa, attaches a hand-drawn picture of a menorah to her front window, so that through the paper, the light shone blue and white. Within three weeks menorahs were displayed in more than ten thousand windows so that the entire town glowed “Red and Green and Blue and White.”
Red and Green and Blue and White is a quiet, uplifting tale. The true meaning of the holiday season, community, friendship, respect, and love that shines!
Submitted by Kathi Hart, READ USA Lead Content Teacher
Parent Education Corner: Developing Literacy – Talking and Singing Activities
Talking and singing with young children helps them to develop listening and speaking skills. Here are ideas to get you started:
Talking and communicating with your child helps them learn to talk, listen, and understand words as they get older. Activities like talking, singing, and rhyming are fun and powerful ways to support your child’s literacy development.
Submitted by Kathi Hart, READ USA Lead Content Teacher
Do you have any questions or ideas for the Parent Education Corner? Anything you’d like to learn? Let us know here!