Rasco From RIF

RIF and Pitney Bowes Join Forces in California

September 1st, 2009

(From left to right.) Team Pitney Bowes at Coronita Elementary School. A Coronita Elementary student and her father share a reading activity.

Hi, this is Kathryn Jackson, RIF’s director of corporate relations, and I am so excited to tell you all about a fun event RIF and Pitney Bowes hosted in California on August 20! RIF and Pitney Bowes joined forces to hold a family literacy night in Corona, California. Coronita Elementary, an amazing RIF program in Corona, was our host for the evening, and we were all excited to share a fun-filled night of reading and activities together with the kids from the school! The theme for the event was “Share the Message: READ!” and all the activities and books were related to a communications theme.

The evening was a huge success, with more than 800 children and their families in attendance. Following dinner from a local restaurant, the children and their families participated in five activities that concentrated on different ways to communicate, from expressing themselves through drawing and writing to creating beaded bracelets with different ways to say “Hello!” As they visited each station, the children collected a stamp on their “passport” for the event, and at the end, each child got to choose a new book to take home. More than 20 Pitney Bowes employees from the local facility came to share the evening with the kids, helping with the activities and being great guest readers!

I’m sure that many bedtime stories that evening were from the kids’ new RIF books, because some of them couldn’t wait to get home and read! It was a great night for RIF and for Pitney Bowes – one that these children will not soon forget!

- Kathryn

Filed under: Children's Books, RIF Partnerships, RIF Programs

Tags: California, Corona, Coronita Elementary, Pitney Bowes