TEENS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Mahalo to our Ohana100 teen volunteers from Holland Middle School Joshua and Henry. Thank you for coordinating a campus book drive and for successfully collecting 150 books.

Joshua and Henry participate in many campus activities and they are also active members of the school‘s honor society. Mahalo to their school advisor Ms. Jennifer Suckow providing support to these teenagers and for also encouraging community service.

For their hard work and commitment to literacy, Ohana100 gifted free new books to all 8th graders at Holland Middle School. Congratulations and GO! READ

WNY GO! READ

On Tuesday, February 12 WNY GO! READ campaign kicked-off in Newfane. The Newfane Elementary School kindergartners, Newfane Early Childhood Center students and Community Action Organization Newfane Students were the first children to receive their books in Western New York. LOCKPORT JOURNAL

Big Mahalo to Newfane Central School District for housing the 20,000+ books and for joining in our mission in getting kids throughout WNY excited about reading a book!

SPECIAL THANKS

Michael Baumann-Superintendent, Bart Schuler- Business Administrator, Holley Staley, Newfane Elementary Principal, Thomas Adams, Newfane Middle School Principal, Daniel Bedette, Newfane High School Principal, Danielle Hawkins, Newfane High School Principal, Newfane School District Staff, National Honor Society Club and Service Club.

Agri-Business Child Development Center Batavia Staff, Agri-Business Child Development Center Holley Staff, Bolivar-Richburg Elementary School Staff, Buffalo United Charter School Staff, Cattaraugus Wyoming County Head Start Programs- Ira Katzenstein & Staff, WIC Buffalo- Judette Dahleiden and WIC Dunkirk & Jamestown- Debra Felton.

Mahalo to all our volunteers: Abigail Sapecky, Agnes Lee, Alice Balcom, Amanda Sacco, Anna Lovell, Anthony Sherman, Asbury Point Seniors, Bernadette Seymour, Beth Banks, Britany Zastrow, Carolyn Larkin, Catherine Mattson, Cindy Ames, David Mattson, Sr., David Steggles, Dawson Nerber, Deanna Parker, Eileen Ludwig, Eleanor Naughton, Gretchen Harrington, James Leibring, Jenna Carmer, Jessica Martin, Jessica Shoemaker, Jody Dold, Jonah Wisniewski, Judith Dold, Julie Tretter, Kaitlin Beiter, Kerry Bumper, Kris DeGlopper-Banks, Laura Shocknesse, Lauren Seymour, Linda Crato, Linda Herrington, Marie Wolf, Mary Dixon, Megan Knoll, Meghan Kowalik, Michael Dolan, Michael Kearns, Mickie Kramp, Nina Burkard, Sadie Penwright, Sarah Milarski, Terry Branch, Tonia Jones, Tyler Wright, Victoria Herrington Wendy MacAvoy and William Clark.

NEWFANE Students Giving Back

Newfane National Honor Society Club and Service Clubs helped to prep and process WNY GO! READ for children across the WNY Region.

Thanks to the support of their advisors and school administrators for making this possible.

FALL OUTREACH EVENTS

In December, NY KDWT youth volunteers organized a Holiday Special at Canterbury Woods Assisted Living Center. Great Performance Everyone!

In October volunteers promoted Ohana100 at the Amherst Senior Center Annual volunteer event.

In September, theNew York Institute of Massage held their Annual Massage-A-Thon to benefit Ohana100 at the Galleria Mall. MAHALO NYIM Team for your continued support!

MAHALO TO THE NIGHTINGALES

Youth members of the Clarence United Methodist Church, Ruth Nightingale along with siblings, Noah, Aiden, Oliver and good friend Maddy decided to give back to the community by raising funds for a charity and set up a table at the Apple Festival in October. They chose Ohana100 as recipient of their hard work. Their generous donation will provide new books to children in our community. MAHALO to the Nightingale Team for your support and for believing in our mission!!

MAHALO NY VOLUNTEERS

New York volunteers gathered for the annual luau.  Mahalo to our volunteers for another successful year of service. Thank you for all that you do for children in WNY and Thank You for being part of our Ohana100 Team!!

Got A Good Story To Tell

Marie's Got A Good Story To Tell! These little toddlers couldn't help but listen to the story about the crickets and all the noise that they make.  Marie kept their attention for two whole stories!!!!  The children were happy and waited patiently to click on the cricket buttons themselves.

BELOW:  Leonard's Got A Good Story To Tell!   Just take a look at the faces of the children at the YWCA Head Start.  What's going on with the dog?  The children were very good listeners and they were also very happy to get their very own book.   GO! READ YWCA Head Start

Allegany County HERE WE COME!

Brigitte, Carol, Marie and Rita joined the two hour drive down south to Bolivar-Richburg that borders Olean, and to a place that was once a pit stop for railroads going back to the 1880's.  It's a small community of less than 3,000.  Ohana100 to read and distribute books to Bolivar-Richburg Elementary for nearly 4 years.  

A Good Grip On A Book

Its never too early to start getting A GOOD GRIP ON A BOOK.  Kids and their mothers at Priscilla enjoyed Valentine stories with our volunteers!  Have a Happy  Valentine's Day.

Big Gift for West Buffalo Charter

All students at West Buffalo Charter (WBC) received books from Ohana100, thanks to students who attended the WNY Children's Book EXPO .  Yes!  Those kids made it possible for the entire school to receive books for the 2nd year in a row.  Volunteer Ms. Lorraine joined in the distribution and also read to all 60 kindergartners!  WHOOOO HOOOO! Congratulations!  GO! READ WBC

2017 HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR WNY KEIKI's

Ohana100 Ambassadors were able to spread the joy of giving this holiday with special books for their students.  Volunteers traveled north to read with children in Newfane and far south to kids in Delevan. They also read with kids in Buffalo and far east in Holley.  See the joy of giving in WNY. GO ! READ

WNY Children's Book EXPO

WNY CHildren's Book EXPO was on Saturday, November 11 at the Buffalo Convention Center. The event featured over 40 authors from across the country and internationally.  Ohana100 volunteers helped to distribute over 600 books to every child that attended the event. They were also able to meet the authors up close. Thank you to MSMD for this wonderful partnership and allowing Ohana100 to be part of this literacy event for the past 3 years.  Thank you to all our volunteers for carving out time to spread the joy of reading on this day!

APPLE FESTIVAL

Ohana100 participates in the Annual Apple Festival hosted by Clarence United Methodist Church.  This is one way we can spread the word about what we are doing for children in the WNY communities.  

Volunteers Sandy, Brigitte, Rita, Marie, Catherine and Madison stopped by to help.

Spring Reading Around WNY

Wrapping up the school year Ohana100 volunteers read to many programs throughout WNY during the months of May and June.

MAY

There's so much excitement reading with children at FHC.  For volunteers like Ms. Sandy and Ms. Marie, its wonderful to see the children every month and really seeing them grow.  They are curious, they want to share their thoughts and they have so many questions! 

First graders at Clinton Elementary had a great time hearing stories from Ms. Marie, Mr. David, Mr. Sam, Ms. Barbara and Ms. Pat. 

GO! READ CHALLENGE @ Newfane EL

Students at Newfane elementary School who excelled or those who showed improvement in reading and writing were recognized by their teachers and Ohana100.   Each student received a GO! READ Challenge Certificate, two new books and a book mark. Congratulations to all student. Keep up the great work! GO! READ Newfane EL

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!! Many kids at Newfane Early Childhood Center were dressed to celebrate Dr. Seuss Bday and volunteers also read some wonderful Dr. Seuss stories. GO! READ NECC.  

Building Relationships

On Monday Feb. 20th volunteers visited with families of the Priscilla Project.  Volunteers shared stories with the mothers, read stories and played some activities with the children.   It was certainly a wonderful time to bond with the mothers and children.  

GO! READ Newfane EL

On Tuesday, February 7 Ohana100 volunteers read to 1st graders at Newfane Elementary.  Volunteers teamed up and read a couple stories to each class.  Students were wonderful listeners and they appreciated stories.  Hopefully they'll get to meet up with the same volunteers at the next month.  GO! READ Newfane EL

Storytime with Nepali Families

GO! READ Ambassador Ms. Malia kicked off the New Year reading to Nepali families from The Priscilla Project of Buffalo (PPB)on Monday, January 23 .  The project services low-income and pregnant refugee women.   GO! READ PPB

Pajama Day Surprise

It was Pajama Day for kids  at ABCD Newfane on Thursday, December 22nd.  It was a surprise having Ohana100 volunteers read with the kids and gift each child with two books to take home!  It was very exciting to see the expressions on their faces.  Happy Holidays! GO! READ ABCD Newfane