Re: [LM_NET] OT: Holiday Giving/Charities

[Donna Steel Cook <donnasteelcook@YAHOO.COM>]

The charity "Room to Read" sounded fascinating to me.  Thanks, Shayne, for sharing 
it with LM_NET.  My policy for years has been to make a charitable donation in 
honor of my principal and assistant principal at Christmas rather than to give them 
a "trinket."  I check out all charities with Charity Navigator, the website that 
rates charities as to their level of actually using donations for people rather 
than using donations to get more donations.  Iwas delighted to see the "Room to 
Read" rates a 4* rating with Charity Navigator--the highest possible for good 
charity management.  
 
Donna Steel Cook
Central ISD Library Director
Central High School Librarian
7622 HYW 69 North
Pollok, TX 75969
donnasteelcook@yahoo.com
 
"Books are the holes in the fences of life." --Peg Kehert



----- Original Message ----
From: Shayne Russell <shayne.russell@GMAIL.COM>
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 12:37:33 PM
Subject: OT: Holiday Giving/Charities

Hi everyone,

Perhaps, like me, you already have too much stuff in your life…  In lieu of
presents, I would rather make donations to charities this year.  While
checking out charities this weekend, I came across information about *Room
to Read*, and borrowed a book from the library that was written by its
founder, John Wood:  *Leaving Microsoft to Change the World*.  Very
inspiring—I intend to buy a copy of it and donate it to my school library
and encourage staff members to read it.

Anyway, this organization funds schools, libraries, computer labs, language
labs, and scholarships for girls in third world countries.  They offer
challenge grants to poor communities which provide materials to build
schools and libraries; the people of the community provide the labor to make
it happen.  There is a tremendous sense of pride and ownership in the Room
to Read communities, as well as gratitude.  Currently they are working in
Nepal, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and South Africa.  The charity
has VERY low overhead, and can tell you exactly how much each project will
cost-- so you know exactly where your donation is going.  They also have a
Students Helping Students program so kids can get involved.

I just thought I'd pass this information along since all of us recognize the
importance of books, libraries, and getting an education.  Parents in third
world countries want the same for their children, but too often the
resources just aren't there.  I think what this organization is doing will
strike a chord with anyone who has visited a school in a poor country, and
has seen what the conditions are like, and how much the children really want
to learn.  Check out their website: http://www.roomtoread.org

Happy Holidays!


-- 
Ms. Shayne Russell
Library Media Specialist
Kenneth R. Olson Middle School
Tabernacle, NJ
shayne.russell@gmail.com
http://inforetriever.net

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others."  --Pericles

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