My goodness, that went quickly! We sent some books, dropped some cash, reached our goals and changed over 1000 children’s lives in less than two weeks. Not too shabby, Dewey-lovers.

Roundup!

From our DCPL contact:

Hello all,

I just wanted to send one more huge THANK YOU to all of you for your work with the DC Rollergirls’ fundraising drive for Sing, Talk and Read.

I’m very pleased to say that as of today, we have raised a total of $3,565 from 76 donors – if we estimate that the average STAR book costs $5, that’s 713 books! We have also been sent 219 books, for a total of about 930 books! And, the money and the books are still rolling in – both Micki and I have piles of board books in our offices, waiting to go to at-risk families and babies in the DC area.

Again, thanks to you all for your help with this project – we hope to continue working with DC Rollergirls, and very much appreciate your support of DCPLF!

All my best,
Linnea

And from our tear-inducing comments section:

So…I’m the DC Rollergirl who originally wrote Pamie and thought this would be awesome if it all worked out. And it’s succeeded way beyond what any of us could imagine.

I gave $100 to the DC STAR program…although because they’ve gone way over their fundraising goal, it’ll probably go to the rest of the library’s programs at this point, and that’s super cool as well.

I have a few obsessions (I think Pamie pointed out that derby girls tend to be overachievers.) One is roller derby, of course, which I’ve taken up at a way advanced age…and then there are pandas (I volunteer at the National Zoo and have traveled around the world to see pandas).

But my third major obsession? Reading. I read 300 books last year, and am over 100 this year so far. I started reading at a very young age, and was always encouraged to read voraciously (well, my mom wasn’t thrilled with my Harlequin Romance stage, but even still, she didn’t try to ban any of my books…now cassette tapes, that was another story!)

So I can’t imagine not reading, or being in a family where no one read, or not owning any books, or anything that would have prevented me from learning about anything I ever wanted to know just by reading about it. I’m so proud of what our partnership with Dewey Donation System was able to accomplish, and am going to work to help make those successes happen with other derby leagues.

-Paula (Claw)

Brutal Noodle and Scoriental Express of DCRG's Scare Force One (photo by Melanie Scala)

Their fundraisers at their last two bouts raised a combined grand total of $316.64!

The intent of Dewey was always to spread the power of reaching out to your local library to see where you can help. We’re so proud of the DC Rollergirls for what they’ve done to increase literacy awareness in their community.

Heather Askew, our Saw Taeng volunteer, also has some thanks to give!

To all the donors:

A huge thank you for restocking our shelves! I am amazed and excited by how quickly you cleared out our list. We received our first book in the mail on April 11, Where the Wild Things Are! It was perfect timing as it was our last day before spring break, or Thai New Year. I read it to the kids as we finished preparations for our SongKran (New Year) festivities at the center. We are all excited to see what the next week’s mail will bring. Thanks again so much for your donations and if anyone is interested in becoming a monthly sponsor for a child to help keep our program going, please visit our website at www.tawsaeng.org or email us at: sponsorship@tawsaeng.org.

Sincerely,

Heather

Thanks to everybody who donated and spread the word. It is impossible to overestimate the size of your generosity. Our final tally as of today is: 157 people gave 282 books, $4304 and sponsored 1080 kids.

Dewey’s getting sleepy now… ready to curl up with a good book and…maybe… just a page before…zzzzz.

Well, we’ve had quite the week here at Dewey Donation System, and we wanted to take a second to thank all of our generous donors, word-spreaders, book-lovers and Dewey-huggers.

Books are starting to arrive in both DC and Chiang Mai. The DC Rollergirls are hard at work prepping their used book drive for this weekend’s bout, where they will sell grab-bags for five bucks. We’ll find out Monday just how much we can add to this year’s fundraising total, but you can already pat each other on all your backs:

We’ve sent every single book on the Taw Saeng wishlist. We’ve also reached the DC Star’s fundraising goal, in addition to sending an extra 150 books!

Congratulations to our big winners for our National Library Week contest: Rachel T., who won two tickets to this weekend’s DC Rollergirls bout, and Stephanie F., who won a signed ARC of MESSY! Ladies, check your inboxes — we’ve sent emails to you both for collecting your booty.

Want to join in on the fun? It’s not too late to send some help to Taw Saeng or DC Star. Just five dollars goes an incredibly long way in helping these kids and their families.

Thanks again to our wonderful donors. In just over a week, you’ve sent 230 books and $3607, making a huge difference to hundreds of children. Group hug!

First! We have only twelve books left on the Taw Saeng Amazon wishlist! That’s some impressive book-buying, you guys. The top few books on that list are through their Thai bookstore, but the remaining are through Amazon, which means they are eligible for the 4-for-3 deal! Twelve books, dear book-lovers! We can do this!

Secondly! We have two giveaways to announce for this week! TWO!

First: DC Rollergirls fans can enter to win TWO tickets to this weekend’s bout!

The 4-3 DC All Stars, fresh off a 291-85 win against Central New York, will take on the Port Authorities of Portland, Maine, in the first bout. The Port Authorities defeated the All Stars at home last season, 163-82. Come out and cheer for DC as the ladies fight to turn the tables this time around.

Then, stick around for the second match-up, as the DC DemonCats look to score a victory against the Majority Whips. It’s going to be a mighty showdown.

If you would like to be entered into this drawing (We will choose our winner this THURSDAY), all you have to do is make a donation to this year’s drive (starting now). Please send an email to pamie@pamie.com with what you donated and that you’d like to be considered for the drawing.

Second: OMG, WE HAVE A SIGNED ARC OF MESSY!

“MESSY” is Heather Cocks’ and Jessica Morgan’s highly-anticipated follow-up to their smash YA debut SPOILED. This book doesn’t even come out until the summer, but the fabulous ladies of Go Fug Yourself have graciously offered a signed Advanced Reader’s Copy to one of this week’s donors!

Sometimes life gets messy.

After a rocky start in Spoiled, Brooke Berlin and her newly discovered half sister, Molly Dix, have settled into something like sisterly love, but the drama is far from over.

Now that Brooke’s caught a taste of fame and her movie star father’s attention, she wants to launch a blog that will position her as the ultimate Hollywood insider. But between schoolwork, party-planning committee meetings, and spa treatments, she hardly has the time to write it herself…

Enter Max McCormack, an aspiring author with a terrible after-school job pushing faux meat on the macrobiotic masses of La-La Land. Max reluctantly agrees to play Brooke’s ghost-blogger for an impressive salary, and the site takes off, but how long can their lie last? In person, Brooke can’t live up to the intellectual wit of openbrooke.com, and Max soon begins to resent hiding her genius behind a bandage dress-wearing blonde. Can the girls work together to stay on top, or will the truth come out and ruin everything they’ve built?

You have from now until Thursday Pamie-Wake-Up-Time to enter to win! Just donate to Taw Saeng or DC Star, shoot an email to pamie@pamie.com letting her know you’d like to be entered to win a signed ARC of Messy, and then sit back with fingers crossed!

Some of you aren’t letting us know after you purchase/donate to these charities. Obviously it’s not mandatory, but we’re old-school in our tallying, so if you sent something, please let us know, either through the fun-to-read What You Gave page, or shoot pamie an email.

Lastly, some thank you letters from those associated with our charity drives.

Both as one of the organizers of this drive and as a library science student who is waiting for the ink to dry on her MLS, reading about everyone’s generosity both to Thailand and to D.C. just warms my heart. I’ve been reading since I was 3 or 4 (and there are pictures of me on the potty-training toilet to prove it!) and the thought of all of you helping other little minds start to explore the worlds they can find in books is just mind-blowing. Thank you all so much for making a difference in so many lives, including mine.

Mels

And from a DC STAR librarian:

Thanks for the books—- what a wonderful response! We can’t wait to use them in our parent workshops where each child receives a stack of books to take home to help them on their path to school readiness. Yes, as early as infancy! Our librarians show parents how, why and what to read to their babies and toddlers, and the gift of books to take home makes such a difference in how parents use what they learn in the STAR classes.

Librarian alert!

As of 5:00pm ET, we’ve had 48 donors give a total of $2,420! What a fantastic response. That will allow us to buy somewhere around 700 books and reach another 300 families! We’re so thrilled to be working with you all on this project – our Children’s Librarian, Micki Freeny, is all smiles today!

I’m also impressed that so many of the contributors don’t live in DC – so they would never have the opportunity to visit our libraries and see our work in action. It’s thrilling to see people mobilize around the country to be sure that everyone has the opportunity to learn to love to read, which is really what the Sing, Talk and Read program is all about. Through this program, we’re working to instill a love of learning early, so that kids can grow into educated, passionate readers. Babies learn faster than at any other time in their lives, and studies show that babies who learn reading skills early have an easier, more enjoyable time at school; have more self-confidence as a learner; and tend to have better-developed minds. This program is so important, and Dewey Donation / DC Rollergirls is really making a huge difference!

We’re so thrilled about this partnership – I never imagined such success! Do you think we can beat the record for most raised for one of your campaigns??! :-)

Thanks again – let me know if you need anything else!

Linnea

The DC Rollergirls said the most they’ve ever raised at one of their charity fundraisers was for some kind of “hair-cutting extravaganza for My Sister’s Place” which set their record at $6,325.

You know we can beat that. We’re almost halfway there in less than two days! Now, Dewey’s record is 882 donors, 1928 books, and $17494. That was for our 2008 drive for the Children’s Institute and the Negril All-Age School in Jamaica. (Mmm. Jamaica. Let’s go, you guys. Right now.) Much of the success that year can be attributed to (we all had jobs and money) the amount of incentives and prizes people kicked in for mini-giveways each day. So if you have something you’d like to donate in Dewey’s name — a gift card, a fancy thing from your etsy store, a galley of your fancypants novel — please email pamie or dave and let us know.

You also kicked the pants off our anonymous donor’s challenge — and he/she even confessed that the initial challenge was a much lower sum than I eventually made it be. Moneypants was so grateful that he/she kicked some additional funds into that donation, so you can be really proud of yourselves for that.

(PS: Any other possible donor-matchers out there? They are fun and you get to make up the rules of the game!)

As I write this, our front page tally stands at 65 donors, 162 books and $2865. We’re entering a three-day weekend where you know you’re going to be wasting some time online trying to escape your family, so please keep us in mind when you’re like, “What can I click/share/send/do while I wait for my turn on WWF?”

Thanks for doing what you do best — surprising the hell out of people with how wonderful and generous you are. You guys are good people.

We have an anonymous benefactor! And she/he has thrown down a challenge!

“I’ll donate $300 each to DC Star and Taw Saeng once Dewey is able to raise a combined $2000 from other donors.”

Hey, guys! It’s Pamie. Aren’t anonymous donors kinda sexy? I always picture them with monocles and glasses of scotch. That probably says too much about me.

I wanted to thank you for all the birthday wishes yesterday, and for supporting Dewey with your gifts of cash, books, and tweets/pins/shares. The love is starting to spread, but it’s a little slow-going. I’m hoping our anonymous benefactor will inspire you to find someone with five bucks for a book that’s going right into the hands of a child who needs it. Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s that guy across the hall who’s always going on about how great his pants fit. That guy needs to give a little.

And where are all the derby girls? Seriously. I don’t understand. Where are all my jammers and blockers and pivots and refs and announcers and merch sellers and door-wristband-ID-checkers and volunteers and derby widows and fans and fresh meat and derby lites and COME ON. I know you have five dollars because derby is expensive.

Anyway, the sexy benefactor is waiting to drop ducats. All we gotta do is drop some first.

And we got a letter from the DCPL!

I just wanted to share the good news with you — in just one day, we’ve had $765 donations come in through our online donation system for the STAR program! So that doesn’t even count the number of books that we will receive – and the bout is still over a week away!

That’s a lot of books!!

Again, we’re thrilled – and thank you so much!!

Do you want to help, too? Go help Thailand! Go help DC! Thank you!

Well, the DC Rollergirls are cool like that, and reached out to Pamie with the following letter:

Pamie –

My name is Paula Brantner, otherwise known as Rock Clobster or Claw of the DC Rollergirls. I met you in 2010 when members of DCRG joined you for your book tour appearance for Going in Circles. I loved the book and found that it inspired me to continue skating until my skills were strong enough to pass fresh meat tryouts and WFTDA assessments — now I’m a member of DCRG waiting for our next draft and hoping for the best.

The other day, I was reading Katie Lee’s Groundswell, and saw your promotional blurb on the back (alas with your name misspelled.) That reminded me to visit pamie.com to see what you are up to these days, and I learned about your new book (which has now been pre-ordered through Amazon.) It was there that I also learned about your work to establish the Dewey Donation System.

So, I’m contacting you on behalf of DCRG’s Charity Committee. We have a featured charity each bout, and have raised several thousand dollars this season for an animal shelter, holiday meals for the homeless, and a domestic violence shelter. Our charity chair, Bat Cat, reminded me that National Library Week is April 8-14, and our April bout is on the 14th, so it would be an excellent tie-in. We would like to support DC public libraries, but it also occurred to us that perhaps we could encourage other WFTDA leagues to all work through DDS to have their own local library campaigns.

I’m not sure what your plans are for this year’s drive (if there is one), but we would really like to work with you to make something happen, since there’s the rollergirl connection and the local charity connection that makes it a great fit for us. Please let me know if you have any questions about this, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Paula Brantner/Rock Clobster
Rock Clobster (Claw)
#B-52, DC Rollergirls
Skaters on Tap

These ladies were the rockstars of my DC book signing (RIP, impossible-to-find-by-cab Borders on K Street), and I’m thrilled to be able to find another way to give back to the derby community that has already given me so much.

Plus, they’ve got a ref named Screwy Decimal, so you know these are our people.

Another DC Rollergirl with pamie.com ties is Melanie, who writes:

Six years ago, I had just been dumped and turned to (what else?) the Internet to distract me from my woe. I was already reading Television Without Pity, and I started reading the recaps there from earlier episodes of shows I watched. After I spent untold hours reading some hilarious Gilmore Girl recaps, I went to the recapper’s website. Then I spent a week pretty much reading pamie.com’s archives from start to finish, with breaks only for meals, sleep, and work. I told my friends “this hilarious story I read on pamie.com” until they were like “dude, I get it, she’s funny, shut UP already. Why don’t you go back to crying about that jerk, okay?”

Since then, I’ve emailed with and tweeted at Pam several times, and after Going in Circles came out, I finally met her in person at a book signing in Washington, DC. While I was waiting anxiously for a chance to say hello, I passed the time talking with some girls in the audience who skated with DCRG, and they got me started volunteering with the league. So thanks to that big jerk, because without his lameness I might not have found pamie.com and roller derby!

Did you just do something good? We’re so proud of you! Please boast about your heroic efforts here. Tell us what you gave, why you gave it, and where you did your boasting.

I mean, you have to brag about it. It’s kind of the coolest thing you could do today. We can’t wait to find out what awesome surprise awaits you. Wait, you do know about the Karmic power of Dewey, don’t you? Trust us: it’s pretty amazing. (Feel free to share that here, too. We’ve heard some great stories over the years.)

Hooray for you!

About the DC STAR program

The DCPL would like you to know that they get these books at a huge discount through their distributor. So even though we’ve created an Amazon wishlist specifically for this drive, a cash donation might be worth a little more. Please note: STAR cannot accept gently-used books, even from third-party resellers.

They’re requesting fifty copies of each book. The average price of a discounted book through the DCPL’s distributor is five dollars. That means for just five bucks, you are sponsoring a child (and a family!) through the STAR program.

If we raise $3,000, the STAR program will have enough money to purchase all 550 books they’ve requested, helping them to their goal of reaching 600 families this year.

Don’t forget to check if your company matches your charitable donation!

When you’re finished donating, please tell us what you sent so we can thank you and add to our front page tally!

Make an online donation

We’re going to list the titles below, so you can also specify which book you’d like to send, in case you have a preference (or if you’re an indie bookseller who has another way to get these titles to these kids).

Fifty copies of each = 550 books

D.C. STAR’s Amazon Wishlist

List of Books Needed for the “SING, TALK AND READ” Program

Moo Baa La La La – Sandra Boynton
Freight Train – Donald Crews
Please Baby Please – Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
Tomie’s Little Mother Goose – Tomie DePaolo
Color Zoo – Lois Ehlert
Where’s Spot? – Eric Hill
My First ABC Board Book – Dorling-Kindersley publication
Oso pardo, oso pardo, que ves ahi? – Bill Martin, Jr.
Donde esta el ombliguito? – Karen Katz
Muu, Beee, asi Fue – Sandra Boynton
My Very First Mother Goose – Rosemary Wells

The DC Rollergirls reached out to Dewey to ask if we could partner up to sponsor their local public library. The DCPL was thrilled to hear from us, and asked if we could help with their children’s literacy program STAR – “Sing, Talk and Read”

About the DC Public Library’s STAR Program

Last year, less than half of DC’s third-graders were shown to be proficient readers. The DC Public Library’s STAR program promotes early literacy by teaching parents and other primary caretakers techniques to share books, songs and conversation with infants and toddlers.

This program partners with social service agencies, homeless shelters, low-income housing providers and other venues who identify families in at-risk communities in need of training, and help DCPL follow up with these families to continue providing literacy services.

In 2012, their goal is to serve 600 families, beginning June 1, 2012.

Using everyday tasks, DCPL staff train parents key communication skills that lead to learning and reading comprehension. For bath time, program staff teach parents to sing their children a song about a rubber ducky or the water. When grocery shopping, parents learn to converse with their children about the foods they are purchasing. Through these simple exercises, parents teach valuable skills such as vocabulary, narrative skills, comprehension, and most importantly, a love of reading.

Each child is sent home with a book that’s theirs to keep (as well as a book for the caretakers that teaches these skills and practices). Upon finishing the program the child is given another book. That’s two books per kid in order to encourage a deeper bond between caretaker and child, and spark a lifetime love of reading.

Ready to help? Great! Here’s how.

Who are the DC Rollergirls?

A better question might be, “Who aren’t the DC Rollergirls?” The 78 women who make up the league come from all walks of life– they are teachers, nurses, writers, artists, librarians and work-at-home moms. They came to this sport as novice and experienced skaters, as seasoned athletes and as former couch potatoes. But they all have one thing in common– they are strong, fierce competitors who are passionate about the sport of roller derby.
Formed in 2006, the DC Rollergirls are the National Capital Region’s premier women’s ?at-track roller derby league. They are proud members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the national governing body for women’s amateur flat track roller derby. WFTDA is comprised of skater-owned and -operated leagues nationwide that have united to lead this growing sport.

The non-profit league is run entirely by the skaters, who contribute their free time and talents to manage the business side of the league — everything from organizing fundraising events to designing promotional materials. The DC Rollergirls also maintain a strong sense of pride in the community by partnering with local charities and participating in local events. The league’s vision is to promote athleticism, diversity and roller derby, and foster self-worth, personal strength and female empowerment.

Above all, the DC Rollergirls are dedicated to giving fans exactly what they want — a rough-and-tumble good time.
The DC Rollergirls are also in the process of putting together a packet for other WFTDA leagues to share what they learned on partnering with their local library system for charity events and bout fundraisers. Check back to find out how to hook your derby league up with this awesome way to support your community and spread the word of Down and Dewey Derby.

About the D.C. Public Library Foundation

The DC Public Library Foundation leverages and enhances DC Public Library resources and programs to promote literacy and a thirst for knowledge in all community members. The Foundation has secured and administered over $4M in funding for DC Public Library programs, with literacy and children’s programs as key areas.

The Foundation has raised substantial funds to support such programs as the library’s Summer Reading program and other citywide initiatives to support reading and early literacy, job clinics, computer training, and programs serving the Spanish-speaking population and those in need of special services such as the deaf or visually impaired.

In the past five years, the DC Public Library system has been transformed – we have rebuilt or renovated over half of our neighborhood libraries, tripled the number of books and other materials that are borrowed from the system each year, and dramatically expanded the number and variety of the programs that are offered at the libraries. Currently, the DC Public Library has twenty-five branches throughout the city and a central location, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library.

Taw Saeng has three pressing needs: new books for their library, new computers for their computer lab (they’re currently using desktops over five years old) and a video camera to record their Christmas pageants and end of quarter pageants.

Mission Buy All The Books: COMPLETE!

Thank you! You guys bought out the Taw Saeng book wish list!

Cash Donations

Taw Saeng currently has non-profit status only in Thailand. To ensure your donation is tax-deductible, they receive funds through their sponsoring church in Washington state.

Select the “Garden of Hope” option on this website to make a PayPal donation:

Online Donations via VVCC’s Garden of Hope

Other things your money can sponsor

Did you already send a book but would like to send more? Here are some things Taw Saeng would love to have on hand. If you sponsor one, let us know so we can give you public props!

Megaphone: $15 buys a megaphone to keep order on outings and get the kids’ attention when indoors. [MEGAPHONE SPONSORED! Thanks, Erica!]

CD Player: $45 would provide a new CD player with an MP3 input for the teachers’ iPods. [SPONSORED! Thanks, JeniMull!]

Video Camera: $300 would buy a high quality camera, or $125 would get a nice Flip Cam

New Computers: $2500 would purchase an entirely new computer lab for the kids to do homework and staff to prep for daily activities. (If you are sending money towards the computer lab, please let us know so we can add you to that list of donors.)

Other needs that are less pressing: microwave, cd player, helmets for the kids, and computer programs such as Photoshop and Microsoft Word.

If the Internet scares you, donations will be accepted over the phone at 253-630-0222. Don’t forget to mention Dewey.

You can send a check made out to TGOH (this stands for The Garden of Hope, which is the overseeing organization of Taw Saeng) and put “Dewey Donation” in the memo line.

The address is:
Valley View Christian Church
25605 124th Ave SE
Kent, WA 98030

Or you can donate directly at tawsaeng.org. Please be aware that these funds will go into a general pot for the organization, and not necessarily to the library drive. You could always let us know in the “What You Gave” section, and we will try to keep tabs on how much money went to TawsSaeng.org directly.

Care Packages

What if I want to send coloring book and crayons? I like making care packages! I have free time and I am crafty and all my friends are life, “I don’t need any more of your crafts, Jessica.”

Taw Saeng would happily welcome new school supplies, coloring books and toys — but please no weapon-type toys or guns of any kind. Beware that Thailand taxes large incoming items, but if your gifts are sent in small packages, shipping should be fine.

Heather tells us: “We had someone in Australia put a whole Christmas package together for us, and shipped it, but it was 3 boxes of 30 kilograms each, so they required all these permits and fees and it was a big mess. In the end, we never got the packages cause we couldn’t afford the customs on them! But if people are sending just a book or two from home and put no cash value on the package, or less than $20, there should be no problem sending that stuff through.”

So send your care packages to:

Taw Saeng
ChangKhlan Post Office Box 26
T. ChangKhlan, A. Muang
Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50100
Thailand