HMG and Pedals Kids Get Books

Books for HMG and Pedals. Mahalo Kim Stewart for helping to get books to your kids throughout the region.

2023 Holiday Season

Above: Volunteers Linda Crato and Marie Wolf read to kids at Pembroke Primary and South Buffalo Charter. Below. Newfane Early Childhood Center (NECC) celebrates Ohana Day and receives a special new book. Happy Holidays everyone and GO! READ

BELOW: Thank you so much for reading to our students each month and providing books! With all the chaos we forgot to get pictures 🤦🏼‍♀️ but we had a couple students who were absent when we gave them out so I snapped these yesterday. We appreciate you so much! Have a wonderful holiday season!! ❤️ Ms. Jessica Lemke- Tapestry Charter

RECAP 2023 and Distributions

In 2023, we were very busy reading to kids thanks to our dedicated volunteers. Marie Wolf and Wendy Swihart bids farewell and Aloha to another school year with kids at Lindbergh EL and Pembroke Primary schools where she read to. Happy Summer everyone and GO! READ

Mahalo Marie Wolf for your dedication to education and for all the amazing work you do for kids at Lindbergh Elementary. GO! READ

Teacher's Appreciation Week

We celebrated Teacher’s Appreciation Week with Prembroke Primary. MAHALO to all teachers for your hardwork and dedication to our children and their future!! GO! READ

Thank you Mrs. Schadt for servicing our community and dedicating over 25 years in education. You truly have made an impact on the lives of so many children. You will be missed! Best of Luck to you in retirement!

WNY Spring Distributions

Children at Truman Elementary, Lindbergh Elementary, Tapestry Charter School, South Buffalo Charter School, Pembroke Primary, Newfane Early Childhood Center, Agri-Business Children Development- Batavia, Mount St. Marys Hospital- NICU/Maternity Unit and Lyndonville School District in Orleans County recevied books this spring. Mahalo to all teachers and adinstrators for your support in making sure the kids get their books.

A Big MAHALO goes out ot our volunteer readers who have made reading possible in the classrooms and taking time out of our schedule: Linda @ South Buffalo Charter, Eileen @Tapestry, Wendy @ Truman EL , Marie @ Lindbergh EL, Liz & Marie @ Pembroke Primary . GO! READ

RECAP 2022 WNY

In 2022 our few of our volunteers we continued reading virtually as seen with Ms. Linda (below @ SBC). And we eventually were comfortably able to return to face to face reading in the Fall. For Ms. Wendy (below @Truman EL) it was a treat to finally read to the children, to see their facial expressions and excitement for story time. MAHALO Ms. Linda, Ms. Wendy, Ms. Eilieen and Ms. Marie for being part of our Ohana100 Team in WNY. We appreciate you taking time to read to the children, enriching their young minds with a wonderful story. We also want to Thank Tapestry Charter School, South Buffalo Charter School, Truman Elementary and Pembroke Primary Schools for allowing our volunteers to visit every month. GO! READ

RECAP 2021 WNY

The giving continued throughout 2021, to Prospect El in the town of Salamanca in Cattaraugus County, to South Buffalo Charter in the city, Union East EL and. Tapestry Charter School in Buffalo,Truman EL in Lackawanna, up north in Niagara County, Newfane ECC. Our volunteers have read to over 200 children virtually. They also reached a broader audience around the world, reading stories for our YouTube Channel O100 GO! READ. Since we started in April 2020, our channel has gotten over 140,000 views.

We continued our support of families by participating in the Family Lit Night in March.

ABOVE: Miss Linda reads to kids at South Buffalo Charter.

Mahalo Nui Loa to Eileen, Linda, Wendy, Sarah, Michael, Anna, Ella, Auntie Pat, Maile, Bel, Olivia and Asbury Seniors for sharing your stories and our partners for helping to make this year a success! GO! READ

Below: Tapestry Charter School

BOOKS FIND NEW HOMES

Prospect EL was the recipient of over 1400 gently used books collected throughout the year. It is located in Salamanca, New York, about an hour and 45 minutes drive south of Buffalo in Cattaraugus County. These books will find a new home and they will continue to bring joy to the lives of kids at Prospect EL, just as they did before for other children. Thank you Principal Gayle Pavone for driving to Erie County! GO! READ

2020 Virtual Readers

During this time of COVID-19, our volunteer readers continue to give back to the community by connecting with children virtually.

Eileen Ludwig, Volunteer: Although I love being in the classroom and especially miss the kids and their hugs, the Zoom readings have been a positive experience.

I'm really impressed with the students and how they listen and stay engaged during the virtual read-alouds. One benefit to the virtual readings is that I can read to the classes simultaneously, allowing more time for discussions and questions about the stories. A favorite thing of mine about the virtual readings is that I can also share the reading with my daughter, Sarah. This could not have happened in the traditional setting. Sarah also added, "It was so much fun being able to see and connect with the kids!"

Through Zoom, the students were also able meet our 7 month old puppy, Holly. The kids and teachers were very excited to meet her! We both are looking forward to reading to the students again soon!

MESSAGE: From Tapestry Charter School - Ms. Jessica Lemke K Teacher

When my team and I found out our school would reopen, we were filled with excitement! However, during these unprecedented times, we knew there would be many changes. Our school decided not to allow any guests in the building for safety reasons, so we were nervous about our connection with volunteer readers from Ohana 100.

The Kindergarten team was thrilled to set up a Zoom session this month with Eileen Ludwig and her daughter Sarah, so that the opportunity for guest readers could continue across all four classrooms. The students love hearing someone else read to them other than their teachers! Eileen and Sarah read several books to the students and also engaged them in questions and comments about each book to build comprehension skills.

We are so grateful for our friendship with Ohana 100. There is no greater joy than seeing their smiling faces when they are being read to and when they receive new books! Thank you Ohana 100 and we cannot wait until our next Zoom! - Jessica Lemke and the Kindergarten Team