Make Way for Books is exceedingly thankful for the tremendous generosity of the Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation. Each year, the Rotary Club of Tucson works hard to put on the Tucson Classics Car Show, a community event in which they raise funding to benefit our community. This year, Rotary Club of Tucson’s hard work achieved incredible results—Rotary Club of Tucson donated thousands of dollars in generous grants to nonprofits, including Make Way for Books; Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation (SARSEF); Wright Flight; Job Path; and Interfaith Community Services.

Make Way for Books is very honored to be the primary beneficiary of the Tucson Classics Car Show. This year, Rotary Club of Tucson raised $70,288 to support our innovative family literacy strategy which is a two-generation approach where young children and parents learn together and both gain skills. Each week, children experience books, reading, and literacy activities that foster their emergent literacy and language skills. Families receive quality books each week to take home to build their home library. As a result of Make Way for Books’ programming, 98% of participating young children gain emergent literacy and language skills that are essential for school readiness and future successful reading. With support from our Family Literacy Specialists, 99% of parents gained skills, knowledge, and confidence as their children’s first, most essential teachers. According to a participating parent,

“Before I didn’t know I should read and sing to him. This helped us— I feel more closer with my son through reading and singing to him now.”

This impact is possible because of the incredible dedication and hard work of our local Rotary Club of Tucson members! Thank you all for helping us achieve our mission to give all children the chance to read and succeed!

 

 

 

“I looked for programs for my daughter but I can’t afford childcare. I’m a single mother and I work two jobs, so we didn’t have a lot of time together at home. It felt like there was nothing out there for us,” shared Ally’s mom. She is not alone. Right now, four out of five young children in Tucson do not have access to high-quality early education.

At Make Way for Books, we believe every child deserves the chance to read and succeed, and we know that starting early is key. Support from our tax-credit donors means we can give children like Ally the chance to develop skills to succeed in school.

Check out in the full story in Arizona Daily Star and learn more about how your support makes a real difference for young children in our community!

This year, we were honored to be the Nonprofit Spotlight at Cultivate Tucson’s Winter Market! Through this unique pop-up event, Cultivate vendors give back to their community every year by donating a portion of their proceeds. Thanks to the generosity of so many local makers and artists at the event, we received thousands in donations in one day!

Including a generous match provided by CBIZ, Chris Johnson, and United Capital, we are so excited to announce we received more than $7,500 donations as the Cultivate Spotlight Nonprofit!

This November, Make Way for Books hosted our first Read Between the Wines: Wine Tasting Benefit. The special event was hosted at Sand-Reckoner Tasting Room located in downtown Tucson and featured fine local wines, a silent auction, and live music from Eugene Boronow. Through incredible generosity from our supporters, we raised $9,000 at Read Between the Wines!

We couldn’t have done it without the generosity of our event attendees, Make Way for Books supporters, and our event sponsors. Thanks to our sponsors: Patrick Sniezek at Sunstreet Mortgage, Vantage West, DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, PC, Assured Partners, and Long Realty Cares Foundation.Thank you to Sand-Reckoner for donating their venue for our event. And, special thanks to all of the businesses and organizations that donated items and packages for our silent auction, including Casino del Sol, Gadabout Salon Spa, Mildred & Dildred, Western National Parks Association and  Hacienda del Sol, and many more! All of your support made this event an incredible success!

Proceeds from this special event will support our literacy programs for children in Tucson.

Thanks to the generosity of our community of supporters, we raised a total of $6,797 online for Giving Tuesday this year! Giving Tuesday isa global day of giving when people around the world come together to celebrate generosity and make a real impact. This generous supports means we will be able to provide books and proven early literacy programming to empower families and ensure our youngest children get the right start in school and in life.

Thanks to the Scripps Howard Foundation who awarded Make Way for Books with a generous $10,000 grant to support our Family Education and Literacy strategy!

The Scripps Howard Foundation (www.scripps.com/foundation), based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the philanthropic arm of the E.W. Scripps Company. With a special commitment to the regions where Scripps does business, the Foundation helps build strong communities and improve the quality of life through support of sound educational programs, strong families, vital social services, enriching arts and culture and inclusive civic affairs. The Scripps Howard Foundation is a leader in industry efforts in journalism, education, scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development, literacy and First Amendment causes.

The generous grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation will support our innovative two-generation model where children and parents learn together. We meet families where they are for programming in high-need neighborhoods throughout Tucson and southern Arizona. Families gather each week for early literacy programming in a positive group setting. Parents discover their power to create a positive future for their children and children develop critical emergent literacy and language skills they need to start school ready to read and on-track for future grade-level reading.

As a result of the Family Education and Literacy strategy, 97% of children develop critical emergent literacy and language skills that they need to start school ready and become successful readers. And, 99% of parents gain skills, tools, and confidence to support their children’s early development. The strategy creates real impact for children and families. According to a participating parent, who shared about learning with her son Adrian,

“This program helped us both. I struggled with reading when I was a kid but now we’re all reading more at home. I know literacy is the foundation for success. Before, Adrian would just watch everyone and now he is involved with everything. He’s soaking it all in. Adrian is evolving and thriving. This has been a gift to my whole family.”

Thanks to­ support from Scrips Howard Foundation, we can write many more stories like Adrian’s! Thank you, Scripps Howard Foundation!

Learn more about the impact of our work with children and families in our recent Empowerment Video.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation! Rotary Club of Tucson raised more than $1.2 million to benefit non-profit organizations through the 11th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show.

Make Way for Books is honored to be the primary beneficiary of the Tucson Classics Car Show presented by Rotary Club of Tucson. This year, Rotary Club of Tucson raised $74,300 to support our Cover to Cover “early literacy school without walls” program. Through Cover to Cover, we travel out into the community via book bus to provide quality early literacy programming and books to thousands of children and families. Cover to Cover is a two-generation change model which means that both children and parents learn together and develop skills. Week after week, children discover the joy of books while they develop critical early literacy, language, and social-emotional skills that ensure they thrive in the classroom and beyond. As a result of the program, 88% of families share more books and 96% of parents gain skills and confidence as their children’s first, best teacher!

The power of these learning opportunities is profound. According to a participating parent,

“We moved here with no family, being in such a different place has been hard. Without friends or family, we have felt very alone at times. Make Way for Books became our community. When we come here, when we receive books, when we see smiling faces, we feel connected. Now my daughter is in school. When they read books or sing songs at school, she gets so excited when she knows the stories and the words because she learned them at Make Way for Books.”

 

 

All of this impact is possible because of the incredible dedication and hard work of our local Rotary Club members! Thanks to Rotary Club of Tucson for helping us achieve our mission to give all children the chance to read and succeed!

Make Way for Books was one of the first nonprofits of the year to earn a spot on the 2017 Great Nonprofits Top-Rated Nonprofit list! The Top-Rated Nonprofit Award is the based on the ratings and number of reviews that Make Way for Books received from volunteers, partners, educators, and families for outstanding performance.

GreatNonprofits is the leading website where people share stories about their personal experiences on more than 1.2 million charities and nonprofits. The GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Awards are the only awards for nonprofits determined by those who have direct experience with the charities.

We’re so thankful to everyone who shared their Make Way for Books’ story with us:

Families:

“Make Way for Books storytime is the best! I first took my daughter when she was about 6 months old and she still enjoys it now at age 4. The story-telling, puppets, and activities are engaging and help model to us parents good ways to expose our little ones to a variety of literature. The employees and volunteers are all so warm and friendly.”

“Make Way for Books has provided an extraordinary experience for my one-year-old granddaughter. They have also supported me as grandparent with books, songs and activities. I appreciate how they embrace my granddaughter in both Spanish and English.”

Educators:

“Make Way for Books (MWFB) is one of the best nonprofits I have had the pleasure to work with! I am a Librarian in a public library and while completing my masters I interned at MWFB and was able see firsthand the dedication, professionalism and heart put into practice in all the staff and volunteers planned for the Tucson community. MWFB also offers trainings for parents and educators separately. Thank you MWFB for all you do!”

“I am a university professor who has sent many students to intern for the folks at Make Way for Books. The students I send have ALWAYS been thoughtfully mentored and supported by the caring and supportive staff at MWFB. Because of this support, the growth I have witnessed in these students between start and finish has been phenomenal. The confidence these students display and their commitment to early literacy illustrates the power of the amazing team at Make Way for Books! Thank you to all of you who make my students feel so valued and so welcome!”

Volunteers:

“I have seen children’s eyes light up as they are handed their very own brand-new book — their first book. This is made possible by the amazing supporters and donors of Make Way for Books. Every child should have the opportunity to read and succeed!”

 

Partners:

“Make Way for Books is an exciting energetic center for readers and learners of all ages. I first worked with them as a partner in a community fundraiser. They engaged their volunteers and staff on many levels. They were enthusiastic, supportive and willing participants in a community event. I have more recently been in their space and it is full joy, passion and possibility.”

 

Thank you for everyone who reviewed us and shared their stories. We are lucky to be a part of such a wonderful community! Read more inspiring stories and add your own here: https://greatnonprofits.org/org/make-way-for-books.

 

As you know, one of our Core Values is Excellence. We execute with awesomeness, the highest quality, and are dedicated to continuous improvement.

We are thrilled to announce that Make Way for Books has been recognized as a Charity Navigator Four Star Charity! This is the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator.

Charity Navigator recognized Make Way for Books’ strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. According to Charity Navigator this rating, “sets Make Way for Books apart from its peers and demonstrates to the public its trustworthiness. Approximately only a quarter of rated charities have achieved this distinction.”

Check out our rating and learn more about Charity Navigator here!

 

 

Volunteers are the heart of Make Way for Books and their dedication and willingness to our community truly inspires us every day.  This week, we celebrated our wonderful and generous volunteers so we have been spending some time reflecting on just how important our volunteers have been to Make Way for Books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past 20 years, Make Way for Books has had thousands of volunteers help us achieve our mission by contributing their passion and unique gifts to build a brighter future for children in our community. The support of our volunteers has been essential to helping Make Way for Books to grow, to meet our goals, to reach thousands of children, families, and educators with programming, and to give away hundreds of thousands of books over the past 20 years.  We have the wonderful privilege of working with incredible volunteers from all walks of life, with varying abilities, and with different reasons for volunteering.  What shines through is the incredible generosity of our volunteers’  hearts. From Storytime Volunteers to Blue Book House volunteers, office volunteers, program volunteers, event volunteers, and board members, we are incredibly grateful every day to have such incredible humans among us. And while it is impossible to list every unique contribution from our volunteers, we want them to know how valued and appreciated they are!

 

 

The words of our volunteers are a daily inspiration:

“Volunteering with Make Way for Books has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,”

“I have seen children’s eyes light up as they are handed their very own brand-new book — their first book.”

“The children are happy to see me when I walk in. They run up with hugs and smiles, and they want to show me their new shoes, t-shirt, or haircut. When I bring a new book, they’re so involved in the story that they guess what might happen next. When I bring a book I’ve brought before, I hear recognition and “Oh, that’s my favorite!” They’re excited when I’ve brought back a favorite book. They remember the story and can do the sounds, voices, and/or repeated phrases along with me. They see themselves as the characters in the story. They point to the pages and say, “That’s me.” “I’m the pink dinosaur.” I’m the green dinosaur.” ‘I’m that one.” “I’m that girl/boy.”

 

Thank you to our volunteers for your generosity, laughter, joy, and inspiration! Thank you for being a part of Make Way for Books! And special thanks to Comcast and Tucson Electric Power for generously sponsoring our Volunteer Appreciation Brunch.