RKC (
Greetings to our K-Family
(Kiwanis affiliated group of clubs), RKN (Rosemead Kiwanis Network) and other
friends
Below are:
·
NEWS: Recent developments and activities
related to
·
EVENTS: Activities in and around
·
FAX OF LIFE: An inspirational email attachment, courtesy of
Scott’s Valley Kiwanis. This one is titled “Prayer for the Children”
·
SPECIAL REPORT –
Know someone who should
be receiving these free emails?
Send their name and email address to kcrosemead@aol.com
NEWS
KIWANIS 2008-2009
OFFICERS ELECTED - Bob Bruesch has been elected 2007-2008 President of
RIF
FUNDING HELP – STAGE 2 Its great that so many legislators have signed on to the
RIF support letter, reports the national office of RIF (Reading is Fundamental)
but the job is not done! Congress still has to approve the monies. RIF needs letters from
children who have benefitted from
SUMMER CHARITIES – Several companies are
offering charitable donations in exchange for patronage, reports Kiwanian
Sergio Medrano of Woodcraft Rangers. Most are time sensitive and some
require inter-action with the Internet. Among the latest:
Starbucks is offering FREE coffee every
Wednesday until May 28th! Just purchase a gift card of any denomination,
and they will hand you a 2-up “Brewed Coffee Card” which is good for a free 12
ounce cup of coffee for you and a friend.
Krispy Kreme
until 5/13 has a brand new printable coupon that
entitles the beareer to buy 1 dozen of any doughnuts
and get 1 dozen original free.
http://krispykreme.qm4.net/shared/images/44/44_20080311004024.jpg
AMC
Theaters are offering $1 Movies on Weds at 10am all Summer Long! The films are family films, and all admissions proceeds
will go to charity! Click
and view! http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/movies.html
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND
EVENTS:
THURSDAY MAY 8, 2008 – RKC MEETING: WOODCRAFT
RANGERS CAMP (Regular Meeting)*
Sergio Medrano, area co-ordinator for Woodcraft Rangers, unveils plans for this
summers WR camp, for which last year there were scholarships available for
THURSDAY MAY 15, 2008 – RKC MEETING: BOARD OF
EQUALIZATION (Regular Meeting)*
Vicki Smith. BofE veteran, will
share some of the trends and challenges facing her agency in the 21st
century
SATURDAY MAY 17
– CELEBRATION OF CHARITY –
Rosemead‘s talented youth know how to sing. Local spiritual
groups help numerous overseas missions and orphanages, but they also address
needs in the local community. On this special afternoon at
WEDNESDAY MAY 21, 2008 – COMMUNITY SAFETY MEETING –
the second of what will be a monthly
series of meetings on public safety issues will be held at the
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008 – RKC MEETING: to be announced (Regular Meeting)*
MAY 28 –
FASHION SHOW – California
Mission Inn, which for decades has been the situs of
our Rosemead Kiwanis meetings, will be hosting a fashion show by Draper’s and
Damon’s on Wednesday, May 28,
2008, from 2:00-4:00 in the
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2008 -
2008
ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER LEADERSHIP AWARDS --- 4:30 – 6:30 PM at
Monterey Park Service Clubs located at 440 S. McPherrin
Avenue, Monterey Park, CA 91754 (see feature story last week)
THURSDAY MAY 29, 2008 – RKC MEETING: to be
announced (Regular
Meeting)*
* - unless otherwise indicated, Kiwanis
meetings are at 12:10 in
Inn chapel’s multipurpose
room, 4807 Earle (north of
side of street),
WEEKLY FAX OF LIFE
INSPIRATIONAL E-MAIL: “Prayer for the Children” – see file attached
SPECIAL REPORT –
FROM CAROL H. RASCO,
(With emendations)
Please ACT NOW to help
We are asking Congress to appropriate $26 million to fund RIF's book distribution program for some 4.6 million
underserved at-risk children and families in fiscal year 2009.The funding is
critical to support our reading motivational programs at nearly 20,000
locations nationwide.
Last year, a similar number of children were able to choose and
keep 16 million free books through
[Editor’s note: due in part to the efforts of Rosemead Kiwanis
100% of the elementary schools in Rosemead now participate in the three times a
year RIF distribution programs. This is believed to be the greatest
participation of any city in
What can you do to help? Have your RIF children write letters to Congress
and drive home the message of saving
Organizing a May children’s letter drive to Congress is easy using
our templates and instruction (below). Please mail all letters to
These letters will be delivered during June, when the House and
Senate appropriations subcommittees that fund RIF convene to decide the budget
for
Starting a children's letter writing drive is
easy!
Below are a few FAQs to help you get started.
What instructions do the children need to
write their letters?
·
Ask each child to write a letter to their members of Congress,
explaining that Legislators decide how much money to give each year to buy
·
All letters should be written in the children's own words and
should focus on why they are thankful to receive their
·
Encourage the children to write about why reading is important to
them, why they picked a particular book, what they learned after reading their
RIF books, whether RIF helps them with reading, etc.
·
These are examples of how children can structure their letter
content:
o Some
children start their letters by showing their appreciation for the
o Some
children write about their dreams and hopes ("I got a book about space
from
o Some
children end their letters by asking questions of the congressmen ("What
do you like to read?" or "Do you like your job?").
·
Children should feel free to include the name of their school,
their class, and their teacher. The children should write/sign their
names at the end of the letter.
What materials do the children need to write their letters?
·
Paper. Download our formatted spring-themed
template or Congress-themed
template and print it on regular copy paper. Tip:
Your children can make their own templates, but don't use construction paper.
·
Crayons or markers. Tip: Permanent ink is preferred over
pencil.
·
The names and titles of both state Senators and the
Representative for your district should be displayed on the board or overhead
for children to see.
How do we make sure
the letters are read by Congressional our offices?
·
Do not provide a script. If every child writes the same thing, the
letters will not be read by Congressional staff members. Tip: Don't
worry about achieving grammatical or spelling perfection.
·
Address the letters to the specific congressman/woman by using
their title and last name (i.e. Dear Senator Stevens or Dear Rep. Brown).
Identify your Senators and Representative. Tip: Letters addressed to
"Dear RIF" or "Dear Federal Government" or "Dear
Senator" will not be read.
·
Include a short note from you for each member of Congress
receiving children's letters (please use your organization's letterhead when
possible). Tip: Invite your member of Congress to be a guest reader at
your next RIF distribution and encourage them to
continue to support
How do other
·
For small organizations: In a class, all children can be asked to
write to their Representative. Since there are two Senators per state, you can
divide the group up and have half write to Senator A and half write to the
Senator B. Tip: This practice in advocacy is also a letter writing
assignment and can be done as part of Language Arts lessons during normal class
time.
·
For large organizations: Multiple classrooms can be divided into
three groups, all children can be given a RIF children's letter template and
one class assigned to write to Senator A, another to Senator B, and the third
class to Representative C. Tip: This practice in advocacy is also a
letter writing assignment and can be done as part of Language Arts lessons
during normal class time.
Where do we send the
letters once they have been collected?
Send the letters and RIF Children's Letter
Cover Page to RIF's Outreach Coordinators,
and they will deliver them to Congress to ensure that the letters are
received in a timely manner and do not get damaged by screening measures.
Mail to:
C/O Outreach Coordinators, "Your
Reading Is Fundamental
Suite 400
(Note: interested parties can have a copy of
RIF Children’s Letter templates and cover page by contacting our RKC Reporter
editor ast 626/292-6550.)
(Note: the rosemeadkiwanis.org website now has a two
year accumulation
of Fax of Life inspirational monographs available for
review – see the Fax
of Life link at bottom of the “Newsletters”
section of the website.)
Know someone who should
be receiving these free
emails?
Send their name and email address to kcrosemead@aol.com