Every year, Aquafortis & I put out a call for people to get involved with RIF – Reading Is Fundamental – on our blog at Finding Wonderland. It’s a great organization (over 16 million books given to kids and counting) and the lovely staff always sends us a heads up on what campaign is going on. This year, they’re continuing the Macy’s link they started in 2007. Anytime in July and August, you can visit any Macy’s store in America and support RIF by giving $3 and getting a $10 off coupon for your next in-store purchase of $50 or more. Here are the details:
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2009 /PRNewswire/ — Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s have teamed up to launch Book A Brighter Future™, a national partnership to raise awareness and support of children’s literacy. The Book A Brighter Future campaign is an annual promotion held at Macy’s stores during the back-to-school season to help raise money for local RIF programs and to provide reading resources to the children who need them most.
This campaign provides an opportunity for Macy’s customers to join the effort and have an impact on literacy in their community. From July 1 through August 31, 2009, Macy’s customers can give $3 and receive a coupon for $10 off a $50 in-store purchase at any Macy’s nationwide. Macy’s will donate 100 percent of every $3 to RIF.
“Giving back to the communities where we work and live is a long-standing priority at Macy’s,” said Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s, Inc. “We are proud that, last year alone, more than a million Macy’s customers participated in Book A Brighter Future helping to raise more than $3 million dollars for children who lack access to books. It is a great way for our customers to support the education of children in their own community while enjoying special savings for their back-to-school shopping at Macy’s.”
A pretty cool deal, all in all. Shoppers do more than just visit a store, and kids win big. But, there’s another reason that RIF is pretty special to me right now. It’s something their CEO, Carol H. Rasco, said, just this past Sunday while on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog, where every week, people celebrate the top seven “kicks” that have happened with them. One of Carol’s kicks was …MARE’S WAR.
I started MARE’S WAR today, love it, Tanita! And a Mother stopped in front of me as I sat in a hotel lobby today to ask what I thought about the book, her two daughters read it last week and loved it also!
Thanks, Jules, for making sure I saw that. And thanks, Carol! I am… gobsmacked. And awed and grateful that Mare’s tale — and the story of the 6888th — is making little circles in still water… that grow larger, and larger, and larger still. History. Memory. Meaning. May someone reading the story have the realization that their time to make all three is now.
Don't you just want to meet Carol? I'm so glad she shared that kick. That's gotta feel great as an author. Like, really kickin'-great.
Yay! I saw Carol's comment on Sunday and did my own little happy dance. 🙂
It's great that big retailers are doing something to promote literacy. The Macy's campaign reminds me of Kohl's Cares for Kids. Good community relations all around.
Oh good, now I have one more reason to go shopping! 😉