September 7, 2009
FANTASIA UPDATE: Though food poisoning from a bad turkey sandwich caused ''American Idol'' winner Fantasia Barrino to miss the Saturday performances of ''The Color Purple'' at the Arie Crown, the musical star was able to recover in time for the finale of the short Chicago run Sunday night.
According to a show spokeswoman, all ticketholders who requested refunds will get them.
Reading Is Fundamental Honors 9/11 -- National Day of Service and Remembrance
and Commemorates United We Serve
Efforts create partnerships with some of America's leading education
organizations
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
is taking part in the first official Day of Service and Remembrance on
September 11, a day established by President Obama and Congress to honor the
victims and heroes of 9/11 through acts of community service.
In honor of September 11, RIF will sign a partnership agreement with the
National Indian Education Association (NIEA) at the National Museum of the
American Indian in Washington, D.C. This new partnership will help improve
literacy resources for American Indian children and families nationally. With
RIF programs across the country, the event will kick off with a special
synchronous read-aloud for 11 minutes of the children's book 14 Cows for
America -- the moving story of the generosity of one village in response to
the 9/11 attacks on America.
"The tragic events of September 11, 2001, inspired Americans to action and
unified us as a nation," said Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. "The
memory of September 11 continues to inspire us to serve our neighbors, our
communities, and our country. We are pleased to join this national effort and
thank the President for making this call to service."
On this historic and symbolic day, RIF will also culminate its Read For Change
campaign in support of United We Serve, President Obama's call to service.
This summer, RIF teamed up with Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity and Broadway
star Fantasia Barrino to challenge Americans across the country to
collectively log 3 million minutes of reading with children by September 11,
2009. Today, we reached and surpassed the goal, logging over 3,051,000 minutes
of reading with children at home and in their communities.
In addition to the Read For Change campaign, RIF hosted a series of
community-focused children's literacy events in partnership with national and
local organizations:
-- "Ice Cream Social" -- a literacy celebration hosted by the
Shoshone-Bannock Early Childhood RIF program at the Fort Hall Indian
Reservation in Idaho, which included special guest readers from the
office of Senator Jim Risch.
-- "United We Read" -- a week-long literacy celebration in
partnership with the National PTA and Communities In Schools-New
Orleans. In six New Orleans schools, 2,500 children received free
books
and resource-filled backpacks. Also joining this unique project were
actor/comedian Harry Shearer, New Orleans Hornets broadcaster Gil
McGregor and award-winning children's book author Whitney Stewart.
-- Kentucky Literacy celebrations -- held in Irvine, Paris, and
Georgetown, Ky., in partnership with the office of Congressman Ben
Chandler, to honor 6,257 local RIF volunteers in Kentucky who annually
distribute more than 320,000 books to nearly 85,000 children each
year.
-- "Share the Message: READ!" -- a family literacy event at the
Coronita Elementary School in Corona, Calif., sponsored by Pitney
Bowes.
-- Nationwide Book Distribution -- RIF, Reach Out and Read, and Pioneers
each matched funding from First Book to double the number of books
reaching community programs serving at-risk children delivering 98,000
books in local literacy programs nationwide.
"One of the best ways to honor the heroes and victims of 9/11 is by reaching
out in service to others," said Rasco. "Through our many efforts in support of
United We Serve and our new partnership with NIEA to strengthen American
Indian communities, we hope our efforts will inspire more Americans to make an
ongoing commitment to serving our nation's children."
RIF invites all Americans to discover the impact of RIF in their community,
experience local success stories, and explore local RIF volunteer
opportunities at http://www.rif.org/maps.
About RIF
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to
read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make
reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is
reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community
volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million
children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For
more information, and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at
www.RIF.org.
About NIEA
National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is a membership based
organization committed to increasing educational opportunities and resources
for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students while
protecting our cultural and linguistic traditions. Incorporated in 1970, NIEA
is the largest and oldest Indian education organization in the nation and
strives to keep Indian Country moving toward educational equity. For more
information, please visit www.niea.org.
