Tributes

May 25, 2004

Dear Everychild Foundation,

Thanks to your inspiring work as told in the LA Times, and later told directly to our Women in Philanthropy group, we now will be launching the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara! An exploratory committee worked for some weeks to come up with the specifics and last week I presented it to a lunch gathering of about 40 Women in Philanthropy participants. They were quite excited about it and we are much encouraged about it's potential for success. We are going with your concept of introducing women to the Fund with simple morning coffees, and a fair number of women have already offered to host them.  Our goal is "Forty Five Fabulous Female Founders" in the coming months.  So far, this has been a most rewarding experience for me personally, and I will feel a great sense of accomplishment when we make our first gift to a project or cause benefiting women, children, and families in SB! The women seem well aware of what an impact a gift of at least $50-100+ thousand dollars can make.  Many have been "in the trenches" putting on labor intensive events and jumping through hoops for small grants!

So, your work certainly has reached beyond your Foundation in LA.  I'd love to be on the mailing list for your newsletter, just to get new ideas, and I'd be happy to send you our complete plan if you're interested.

Thanks again for helping us launch this important work.

December 12, 2002

A letter to Everychild member, Terry Hamermesh, from her four year old daughter, Tessa:

June 21, 2002

Dear Jacqueline:
For the past year, the elementary school students involved with our organization have been working hard to improve their reading with the help of their volunteer reading partners. In recognition of this hard work, The Wonder of Reading recently threw a celebration party and handed out gift bags to each one of our 650 students. The bags contained toys and two brand new books. (Many of the children participating in our program have no books of their own.) The students were thrilled to receive the beautiful books that Everychild Foundation donated for the event. From the enclosed pictures (right), you can see that the items were greatly appreciated by all!

Thank you so much for your assistance in making this event a success and for adding a bit of brightness to our students' lives. Without community support like yours, The Wonder of Reading would not be able to fulfill its purpose to inspire in children the love of reading.

Thank you again for all of the fantastic books we received from the annual luncheon! We appreciate your support!

Sincerely,
Beth Michelson
Director
The Wonder of Reading


   

April 3, 2002

Dear Jacqueline:
Thank you very much for the overwhelmingly generous donation of books by your members for the 2002 Annual Volunteer & Student Recognition Event. We received a total of 638 books of which 344 will go directly into the gift bags for the students in our 3R Program. Seven of the books were quite special, and thus we will keep them for use as incentive books. Of the remaining 287 gently used books, they have been made available to volunteers for use with their students during reading sessions. We have had a great response.

Please convey to your members that we are humbled by their generosity and assistance in providing so many beloved titles to our students.

Sincerely,
Tarry Kang
Outreach Coordinator
The Wonder of Reading
   

March 4, 2002

Dear Jackie,
On behalf of all of us at the Wonder of Reading, I want to thank you and the Everychild Foundation for all of your support. I hope that each of your members will be able to attend a library grand opening over the next four years. I believe that you will be both proud of and touched by the impact of your investment in the elementary school children of Los Angeles.

With deep appreciation and warm wishes,
Beth Michelson
Executive Director
The Wonder of Reading
   

December 2001

To say we Board Members of The Wonder of Reading are deeply gratified and appreciative of our new partnership with the Everychild Foundation is the stuff of understatement. Better to call Hamlet an okay play, the Mona Lisa a pretty nice painting, and the Superbowl a modestly followed sporting event.

Truly, there is a deep and abiding appreciation--make that unbridled joy--on the part of our Board members regarding Everychild's commitment to help us build more libraries and match disadvantaged students with Wonder of Reading volunteers. Indeed, the dedicated mission advanced by Everychild is without peer. Pairing a passionate concern for the welfare of children with resolute actions, Everychild is changing young lives in a direct way. We at the Wonder of Reading are honored to be recognized by this exceptional group, to have been chosen by Everychild as a significant healing force in Southern California.

Yes, acknowledgment by Everychild means much to us, confirmation of a job well done. But more than a sure pat on the back for the work we are carrying out, Everychild's support is meaningful because of the thousands if youngsters who will be transformed by the group's noble help. The enduring significance of Everychild's recognition is its ongoing contribution, a contribution that will enrich so many lives for so many years to come.
Miles Beller
Board Member
The Wonder of Reading
   

October 18, 2001

Dear Members of the Everychild Foundation,
Thank you very much for the backpacks and the kindergarten readiness materials included in each pack. The students really enjoyed the gifts. They were so excited when they opened up their backpacks and saw the crayons, pencil, pen, books and writing pad. They wanted to open up and examine each gift individually. The students commented that now they had new crayons that they could use to really do a good job on their homework. They loved the child size scissors and glue, not to mention the stylish black backpacks.

Everything they received was very necessary to continue the learning process at home. Thank you for your consideration and donations.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Palazzo, Classroom Teacher, Union Avenue School

Dear Jackie,
Just a note to say how grateful I am for you and the amazing miracle you have worked to accomplish in the last 8 months through the Everychild Foundation. I am proud to work with you. Please let me know how I can best help.
Reverend Patricia Farris
First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica
   

Dear Jackie, Cynthia and Debbie,
Congratulations on a wonderful launch of the first project of the Everychild Foundation. The "foundation" has been publicly laid for not only a new approach to philanthropy but also to a new structure and way of connecting donors to the effects of their giving. It is a winning combination. Thank you again for inviting me to witness this "birthing." I was deeply gratified to have been a small part of helping it to happen.
Patricia Murar
Executive Director
Los Angeles Women's Foundation
   

Dear Jackie,
Because you have vision and the fortitude to make your dream a reality; thousands of children will be served and hundreds will avoid needless pain and suffering.
    
The Everychild Foundation's Mobile Dental Clinic is health care; but it is also going to allow children the opportunity to take advantage of their educational opportunities. Thank you for sharing your vision with our mission...together we are making a difference.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at QueensCare