LINC LETTER Spring 2022
Upcoming Events Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information on our upcoming fundraising events! WINE TASTING AND PRIVATE COLLECTION SALE Evening of Wednesday, May 11th Hosted by Stephanie Young, LINC Board Member
Workshop & Delivery Implementation Specialist Delilah Santamaria leads LINC’s Annual Wear Your Crown Celebration on March 8th.
Reading to the Beat of Your Own Drum At LINC, we celebrate unique cultures, talents, and dreams, and we love when children march to the beat of their own drum. This year, in honor of International Women’s Day, LINC’s annual Wear Your Crown program centered on the book Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle. The story was inspired by the young Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, an Afro-Chinese-Cuban girl who, with the support of her family, broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers. LINC’s Wear Your Crown program helps parents create daily reading habits and support their children’s dreams. We provided parent tips for making a plan, promoting growth, and being their child’s #1 fan. In addition, families designed their own crowns with materials on hand at home and learned how to make music using everyday items such as pens, pencils, cardboard boxes, juice bottles, and even their own laps. To read more about LINC’s drummers, dreamers, and readers, visit our website at www.lincnyc.org/blog.
ART AUCTION - ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS FROM CHILDREN’S BOOKS In person and online bidding Evening of Thursday, May 19th Hosted by Tracy Dockray, LINC Board Member LINC’S SPRING GALA In person and streaming Tuesday, June 7, 2022 6:30 PM Cocktails 7:30 PM Program
Please contact Donor Relations Manager Kate Dorman at 212-620-5462, ext. 144 or kdorman@lincnyc.org with questions or to RSVP for any of the spring events. Gala tickets and info can also be found on our website www.lincnyc.org.
LINC’s Growing Movement Trying, Learning, and Succeeding: LINC’s Latest Very Involved Parent Academies As spring began in March, LINC embarked on our latest educational adventure by training 12 new determined parents and caregivers during our latest Very Involved Parent (VIP) Academies. Our new VIPs discussed what motivates children to read and how to keep children engaged. VIP Ericka Bravo, who is learning tips for reading books to a virtual audience, stressed the importance of having fun. VIP Edith Martinez described how she uses themed books to both keep children interested and develop a passion for reading. As a former VIP and now LINC’s Bronx Neighborhood Manager, Gladys Gomez shared her journey with the class. Gladys connected with LINC in 2013 after learning her local library would be closed soon for renovations. She and her daughter Matilda went to their first LINC event in Kingsbridge. As Matilda attended more sessions in the summer, her reading
confidence blossomed. Seeing Matilda and the other children apply themselves by asking questions and sounding out words inspired Gladys to continue with LINC. She said watching her community’s children “trying, learning, and succeeding, that is why we are here.”
As LINC’s VIP Academies build literacy advocates, their roles continue to evolve and expand. Many VIPs go on to become active in parent associations at their children’s school and lead other movements on their children’s behalf, all while supporting each other. As 2022 unfolds, we look forward to hearing new stories from our most recent VIPs.
LINC Celebrates Black History Month with Timberland Volunteers To celebrate Black History Month, LINC partnered with Timberland for a day of service devoted to early literacy and racial and educational justice. On Tuesday, February 8th, we gathered virtually with thirty employees hailing from across the country and all lines of Timberland’s business. LINC’s Chief Program Officer Laura Walsh taught the group about the skills a child needs to be ready to learn to read. She also shared tricks for reading without a live audience. The Timberland employees then selected books from our extensive, curated list of children’s book titles that were written by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) authors and/or featured a BIPOC protagonist. Timberland donated two copies of each book to LINC, and the volunteers recorded Read Alouds to be added to our YouTube library, 2
LINC LETTER - SPRING 2022
reflecting on their personal connections to the stories they chose. Thank you Timberland for another successful day of service and these wonderful new resources for our families.
LINC’s Collective Impact Love is in the Air: LINC Spreads the Love of Reading on Valentine’s Day On Saturday, February 12, LINC spread the love of reading to dozens of children in East Harlem during our Valentine’s Day program at Franklin Plaza. The event was featured live on Pix11 News. LINC’s lively, heart-filled program included free books for families, crafts, goodies, and surprise guest readers: Councilmember Diana Ayala read Llama Llama I Love You by Ana Dewdney and Pix11 reporter Magee Hickey read One World, One Day by Barbara Kerle.
enthusiastically repeated the refrain “I can do it!” and were reminded to believe in themselves. One little boy, Chayce Suarez, told Pix11 News what he wants to be when he grows up. “I want to be a scientist and figure out a cure for the Coronavirus,” Suarez said.
Read the blog post on our website: Perhaps the most empowering exercise of the day took place during www.lincnyc.org/blog and watch us live on Pix11 News! Staten Island Manager Husniyah Hassan’s interactive reading of I Can Do It by Tracey Corderoy. Specially chosen for Valentine’s Day, this story With eyes and ears wide open, our teaches children about self-love and audience of inquisitive little people confidence, and how to access support when they need it. The children fell in love with the stories.
City’s First Readers Launches First CFR Week: April 25, 2022 - May 1, 2022 The City’s First Readers Initiative is excited to hold its first ever CFR week! From April 25th to May 1st, CFR partners will engage in a variety of activities focused on connecting families to the wide range of CFR resources. Partners will introduce CFR, distribute informational materials, share an activity packet with families that can be used to enter a raffle, and encourage families to sign up for library cards. This first week is just the beginning! CFR Week will occur four times a year, and will ramp up to include a coordinated book order, shared theme, and more. Additionally, the initiative is developing plans to recruit new families in two hotspot locations, with the goal of connecting even more families to a network of early literacy support.
We are excited to see how each CFR partner participates in a unique and creative way.
LINC LETTER - SPRING 2022
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LINC’s Development LINC Welcomes Three New Members to the Board of Directors James E. Lieber is the founder and president of Lieber Strategies and holds more than 25 years of experience in the strategic management of complex international projects and situations. Prior to Lieber Strategies, Mr. Lieber served as the Director of Corporate Affairs at LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton S.E. and practiced law with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. He is a director of luxury goods businesses at LVMH Inc. and DFS Group, of Stanhope Capital, a private wealth manager and Gabriel Resources Ltd., a Toronto mining company. Andrea Newborn is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of ABM Industries, and in that role is responsible for all legal/compliance, risk and safety, corporate governance, and real estate affairs. Andrea has more than three decades of experience working in senior leadership
Literacy Inc. P.O. Box 822 Katonah, NY 10536
*temporary mailing address When a child reads, a community succeeds!
www.lincnyc.org • info@lincnyc.org 212-620-5462
roles at both public and privately held companies, including TravelClick, Inc. and Reader’s Digest Association. She is currently a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Partnership for New York City. Víctor Pichardo Jr. is the VP of Government and Community Affairs at Saint Barnabas Health System. He is the former Assemblyman of NY’s District 86 (2014-2021). In office, he served as the Vice Chair of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators’ (NHCSL) delegation. Prior to 2014, Víctor started his career in Senator Charles Schumer’s office beginning as an intern and finished his 4 years of service as the Community Outreach Coordinator/Latino Liaison. He then became the Associate Director of Public Relations at Mercy College before returning to public service as the Director of Community Affairs for State Senator Gustavo Rivera in the Bronx. Visit our blog to learn more: www.lincnyc.org/blog!