Book Resources to Help with Back to School!
RIF RAP
August 2021
Back to School Resources for Kids and Families
Children in Northern Virginia are back in school this week or will go back soon. Many families are more than ready to go back. Just as many feel uneasy and worried about the pandemic’s effects on their children’s social development, emotional well-being, health, and education. With these concerns in mind, Brightly has put together a list of back-to-school resources to get kids excited for the new school year and to support families no matter how they may be feeling about heading back to the classroom. Check it out here!
(Image: Brightly)
BOOK IT FOR BOOKS, RIF of NOVA's biannual 5K/One-Mile run/walk fund- and fun-raiser is happening! When: October 16, 2021. Where: Bluemont Park in Arlington.

The link to sign up to run or walk is live on the PR race site: https://potomac.enmotive.com/events/register/2021-book-it-for-books-5k. Sign up now to run or walk on October 16 -- either in person or virtually!

Note: We are obviously keeping an eye on the Covid situation and will make adjustments as necessary. We will provide updates via the RAP, the PR race site, and our social media. Please stay tuned!
In super news, we have a Pulitzer Prize sponsor -- Lucky Dog Films! The company produces entertaining television shows for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, HGTV, the Travel Channel, and the DIY Network. LDF is a leader in non-fiction programming with works filmed and produced around the world. "Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet" is one LDF's most popular series, now in its tenth season!

More 2021 sponsors have also signed on to help and are noted below. Plus, you can meet some of our sponsors and read more about them by clicking here.

Interested in sponsoring? Pretty please?! We invite individuals and businesses to help! See sponsorship levels and how to connect here! To sign up to sponsor or donate to Book It, click here! For info, contact us at: bookitforbooks2021@gmail.com.

Pictures help tell the love-of-reading story! Do you have a photo of a baby or toddler "reading" or trying? If so, send in your favorite photo(s) to our email: rifnova@gmail.com. We will publish one new photo a month in the newsletter and on our website through the end of the year (with absolutely no names). All we need from you is approval to use the photo in our media.

New! August's BOOK BABY: All dressed up and ready to...read!
A new academic year is starting...but before the summer began, RIF of NOVA was all over the place!
At Kilby Elementary School in Woodbridge, reading specialist Sarah Kelly and librarian Megan Gee held a June book event for kids during which each child not only picked out a summer book but wrote a thank you letter, too! Book joy is just that -- joy about having a book of your own to read and love. Whoo hoo!
At Potomac View Elementary School, also in Woodbridge, there was a "walk by" for in-person students and a "drive by" for virtual students, thanks to NOVA RIF liaison Debbie Crawn. Note: books for the Kilby and Potomac View book distribution events were provided by national RIF.
At John Adams ES in Alexandria, a great book time was had by all, thanks to librarian and NOVA RIF liaison Emily Godfrey and a grant from NOVA RIF/national RIF. Students were also able to sign up for the Alexandria Public Library's SummerQuest reading program for even more access to summer books!
Other Book It For Books Sponsors have signed on at the Bestseller Level, including...
The McLaughlin Family


John & Sheila Jonas
John Jonas donated to RIF of NOVA in honor of his wife Sheila Jonas AND to help the Book It For Books 5K at the same time! His celebration gift in honor of Sheila came with the words -- "for giving our grandchildren a love for reading."

Long-time NOVA RIF board member Sheila loves reading to her two grandchildren and reads to them every day they are lucky enough to be together. An avid reader herself, she notes -- "reading is and always will be my life force."

John picked such a wonderful way to honor his wife and to support Book It at the same time! Yay and thank you, John!!! Read more here.
...and more sponsors at the Paperback Level, too!!!



Lynda J. Robb & Family
Donated Books ... almost 10,000 Collected!
Isaac Leong is a rising middle school student at Kenmore Middle School, one of the schools NOVA RIF supports. As part of a service project for his Bar Mitzvah, he is collecting gently used books to donate.

Isaac is pictured with part of the collection. Says Isaac, "I hope to collect a lot more before I am done." Thank you, Isaac!
A full list of book donors can be found on our website at: http://www.rifnova.org/contribute-books.html. If you have or want to collect books for children from Pre-K to grade 8, contact us at rifnova@gmail.com. We will arrange to pick them up. So far, we have collected almost 10,000 books for the children we serve! Whoo hoo!!!
Updates of Note!
RIF of NOVA Emeritus Council member Ramunda Young is in the news again! She and husband Derreck, along with daughter Mahogany, have just opened a second Mahogany Books independent bookstore location at National Harbor in Maryland. The store carries books for, by, and about the African Diaspora.

Check out the new Mahogany Books location at this address: 121 American Way, Oxon Hill, MD 20745 (next to the Oyster Bar on the corner). Congratulations!!!
When fifth-grader McKenzie Watt applied for the pilot NOVA RIF Young Ambassador program, she did so hoping to write a book review for our website. And she's done so!

From her review: "If I had to describe this book in one word it would be -- roller coaster (okay, that’s two words, but you get the point). This book has so many twists and turns!"

The book McKenzie reviewed is Charlie Hernández & The League of Shadows. Find her assessment right here! Great job, McKenzie!
*Contribute online by Paypal or credit card at: https://donorbox.org/donate-to-rif-of-nova. Donate links can be found on every page of our website, too.
*Send a check to our mailbox:
RIF of NOVA
P. O. Box 7012
Arlington, VA 22207-0012
Other options to help:

*Register with smile.amazon.com. Type in Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia, Inc. to select us as the charity you want to support. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to RIF of NOVA. The 0.5% can really add up!
*If your workplace holds a United Way campaign, designate RIF of NOVA as your chosen philanthropy. Our United Way # is 8959.

*Celebrate a graduate, a birthday, or memorialize a loved one with a special donation.

Thank you for any donation -- no matter how big or small! And thank you for being part of the RIF of NOVA community!
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