Get to Know the Advisory Board: Anica Wong

First Book's strength comes from its donors and volunteers. In each community it serves, First Book has an Advisory Board of volunteers committed to bringing new books to children in need. Today, we'll get to know First Book-Denver Metro Advisory Board Member Anica Wong.

  

Name: Anica Wong

Employer: AmeriCorps volunteer through Mile High United Way

Hometown: Delta, CO

What is your favorite children's book?  

My favorite kid's book is "Two Pesos for Catalina." It tells the story about a young girl trying to decide what to spend her two pesos on. While the story itself was cute and touching, the reason I loved it as a kid is that the words are so lyrical. When read out loud (as adults, we should do this more), the words seemed to flow into a song. "Two pesos for Catalina...two pesos for Catalina to spend." That last word vibrates up and then down, flitting off the page. There's nothing better than words that take flight into our own lives. 

Who is your favorite author?  

This question is like asking a parent who their favorite child is...there's no right answer! I love too many books and too many author styles to pick just one. My most recent favorites, though, are Jeffrey Eugenides, Wallace Stegner, Cormac McCarthy, David Finkel and Eowyn Ivey.  

Why do you volunteer with First Book? 
I am an AmeriCorps volunteer literacy tutor. I currently work with K-3rd grade students to get them up to grade-level reading. I wanted to give this year of service to the community because I was blessed with a very word-rich childhood. My mom worked in a library, so I was surrounded by stories beyond my wildest imagination. My dad always read the daily newspaper, sparking my love of the written word. It wasn't until I grew up and saw parts of the world that I realized not everyone was as lucky as I was to have a family who placed such a high importance on reading. And so, that is one of the reasons I volunteer with First Book. Getting books into the hands of our community's children is the first step to sparking that life-long love of reading. 

First Book's strength comes from its donors and volunteers. In each community it serves, First Book has an Advisory Board of volunteers committed to bringing new books to children in need. Today, we'll get to know First Book-Denver Metro Advisory Board Member Terry Strobel. 

Photo by ugaldew

Name: Terry Strobel

Employer: Stay-at-home Mom 

Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI

Favorite Children's Book: Yertle the Turtle

Favorite Author: Dr. Seuss

Why Do you Volunteer with First Book:  I volunteer with First Book because I believe that the hard work we do helps children value reading.  Nothing's better than a having a favorite book when you are a kid!  I love being a part of that mission. 

Get to Know the Advisory Board: Christine Kuznia

First Book's strength comes from its donors and volunteers. In each community it serves, First Book has an Advisory Board of volunteers committed to bringing new books to children in need. Today, we'll get to know the Chair of First Book-Denver Metro's Advisory Board. 

Name: Christine Kuznia, First Book-Denver Metro Chair

Employer: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hometown: Grand Forks, ND

What is your favorite children's book?

The Paper Bag Princess. Robert Munsch was ahead of his time when he wrote about a strong willed girl who wouldn’t let anyone, not even a dragon or a prince, stop her from being true to herself. This was one of the first books I bought for my niece. Every time I read it, I fall in love with it a little more.

Who is your favorite author?

This is hard – how can you ask a girl to choose! If I’m pushed, then I would have to say, Jane Austen. I have read all of her books, multiple times, and love every one of them, especially Pride and Prejudice. Oscar Wilde comes in at a very close second for his quick witted humor. One of my favorite quotes, actually by Oscar Wilde, is “if one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again there is no use reading it at all.” This rings very true to me. Both of these authors have stories that are still very relevant and every time I pick up one of their books it is a new experience. I love it!

Why do you volunteer with First Book?

So many reasons! I love reading and I can’t imagine growing up without access to books. I practically grew up at the library in my hometown and want to thank all of the librarians who helped grow my passion of reading. They are an invaluable resource to our communities. I was fortunate enough to have a well-stocked library at home, as well, and looking back it was access to books that changed my life and made me appreciate and value reading. When I moved to Denver I learned about the statistics on low income families and the number of books in homes. The data was shocking and called me to action. After learning about First Book and their great mission, I knew that they were the right avenue to help guide a local grassroots effort to end illiteracy. One of the reasons that First Book is such a great organization, is that there is no underlying agenda to our cause. Simply put, we want to make sure every child has access to new reading material in their home. This simple, but strong message brings together people from all walks of life who want to make an impact in a child’s life and help them realize the magic of reading. Another great advantage of First Book is that all of our fundraising efforts go directly to the recipient groups we serve, such as schools and nonprofits that serve low-income and/or high minority populations. As a board, we’ve made the choice to have zero operating/overhead costs so we can ensure that 100% of all donations we receive go to the people who need it most.

Denver is such a wonderful community and has welcomed First Book with open arms. Our board is still young, but we’ve seen great growth in the year and half that we’ve been together. We have great partnerships with Mayor Michael Hancock, the Office of Children’s Affairs, and with stores in Cherry Creek North, like Hermitage Books, Enstrom, and Mici’s. We have recently found more allies in ending illiteracy with the Book Bar, located on Tennyson Street, and Von Melee, the online bookstore and blog. First Book is an organization that everyone can get behind, and I welcome any one who has questions to contact me directly. You can reach me at DenverMetro@firstbook.org or (218) 791-2484. It is going to be a great 2014!!

Did your new year's resolutions include a commitment to becoming more involved in your community? Whether you've resolved to volunteer more or support in other ways, might we suggest supporting literacy with First Book?

First Book-Denver Metro is dedicated to getting new books to kids in need, and our focus is here in Colorado. Help us get books to kids by donating online; just $2.50 helps us put a brand new book into a child's hands.

A few facts about us:

• First Book is a nonprofit organization which provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books.
• First Book has provided more than 100 million brand NEW books to children in need in thousands of communities nationwide.
• The national office is in Washington, D.C. and there are more than 150 local volunteer chapters working in communities like ours throughout the U.S.
• First Book-Denver Metro coordinates with schools, literacy programs, Head Starts, etc. that are already at work serving local families.
• In order to qualify, 70% of the children served must be from low-income families.
• 97% of First Book's funds go directly to putting books into children's hands, earning Charity Navigator's highest rating.

To learn more about our chapter, view our brochure below. If you are interested in volunteering, contact us at denvermetro@firstbook.org.

Happy New Year!

We hope that your holiday season was a good one. Here at First Book--Denver Metro, we are looking forward to a bigger and better year in 2014. One of our new year resolutions is to be more active here on our blog. Look for more frequent posts in the coming months, and be sure to give us feedback so that we can offer information that is interesting, fun, and useful to our supporters.

We'll share information from First Book headquarters, news from the world of books, and, of course, updates on activity from our Advisory Board.

Do you have any book-related resolutions for 2014? Share them with us in the comments!

Meet and Greet: July 1 @Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch

This Sunday, July 1 from 2-4PM we are hosting a Meet and Greet at Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester St. We are excited to introduce ourselves, answer any questions and begin to deepen our involvement with the Denver community. We'll also have samples of book titles and some free swag.

We are thankful that Tattered Cover is letting us use their space and we hope to see all of you there!

Check out our flyer below or view the PDF version online.

We're back!

After a brief break, the Denver Metro board is back in business. We are excited to get things rolling this summer. Please like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter to stay updated!