When I started working for Ella Fitzgerald, back in the 'nineties, I was absolutely amazed at how many books she had in her Beverly Hills home. Books stacked on the coffee table, books by the fireplace, books in the cabinets - and overflowing bookshelves.
Ella loved to read.
So when I found out that the kids attending the Ella Fitzgerald Child Care Center (in the L.A. suburb of Lynnwood) didn't have any books in their homes, I was horrified.
To fix that problem, we started our A BOOK JUST FOR ME!
book give-away program.
Here's how it works:
We are able to provide books to one hundrednon-profit organizations per year - we are running at capacity at this time, but when we get openings, I'll post the news.  So keep an eye on our website.
Meanwhile, please encourage everyone you know to visit their Public Libraries - a truly vital resource and they are FREE! Not only do libraries provide a wide range of books, most of them have great Story Hours - so much fun for kids.
And if you love books and kids as much as Ella did, you'll be interested in our "Spotlight on Books" which describes a great children's book - a new one each month. Just look below for this month's choice.
 Recommended for children ages 8 and up...though I personally think that everyone should read it!
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When we were in Washington DC last April (2011), we got to meet the surviving "Sweethearts" - and these spunky ladies can still tell a story! What a thrill it was to meet women who grew up in the segregated South, sleeping in their bus because few hotels were available to women of color. They even had to give separate performances for white solidiers and Black soldiers. Since bands had to be segregated (can you believe that?), the Asian-American performers and the Jewish-American sax player had to pretend to be Black! It's hard to imagine those times, but this book brings history to life through Jerry Pinkney's magnificent illustrations.
This book should be in every single Elementary School library in America, it's perfect for story times and for sharing.
We are proud of our A BOOK JUST FOR ME! program - we estimate that we have placed new books into the hands and homes of about 400,000 children since we began the program. That's pretty good for a small Foundation.
Here is a brief sampling of the organizations who currently participate:
The Venice Family Clinic
(Greater Los Angeles area)
St. Joseph's Medical Center
(Syracuse, NY)
The Lennox School District
(near Los Angeles International Airport)
Hollywood Boys and Girls Club
(in the heart of Hollywood, CA)
University of Southern California Community Dental Clinics
The Assistance League North Coast
(San Diego, CA)
ChildSight-Helen Keller Worldwide
We are grateful to our dear friends up at BOOK DEPOT in Canada our source for books.
Thank you!
www.bookdepot.com
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