Greater Mankato Area United Way
August 29, 2024
Amount Requested$23,000.00
127 S. 2nd St. #190
Mankato, Minnesota 56001, Minnesota 56001
Laura Murray
COO
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- Broaden Perspectives Through Art, Culture, Literature or Extracurricular Experiences
Program Support
Greater Mankato Area United Way's mission is to unite the community to secure and invest resources to improve people's lives by focusing on the impact areas of basic needs, health, and education.
$23,000.00
$23,000.00
$3,550,628.00
Yes
This request aligns with the funding area of broadening perspectives through art, culture, and literature. There two aspects to this literacy-focused request: our annual Fourth-Grade Book Project (Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”) distribution, and our new initiative that combines literacy and kindness using our newly released picture book, “The Kindness Booth.”
We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Olseth Family Foundation for our eighth annual Fourth-Grade Book Project, which provides new, hardcover copies of Shel Silverstein’s "Where the Sidewalk Ends" to area fourth-graders. By giving students their own book, this project promotes poetry, exploration, imagination, creativity, and opportunity for all. The cost of this book increased in 2024. We are grateful to the Olseth Family Foundation for continuing this program and providing access to poetry.
In Spring 2024, we distributed books to approximately 1,600 fourth-grade students and teachers in 36 public and private schools in Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, and Waseca counties. Presentation sizes ranged from a couple students to 150+. School staff and students were thrilled to welcome us for book deliveries and short presentations. At every school, students were excited to receive this special gift and eagerly volunteered to read poems aloud. We continue to hear from kids and parents how much they enjoy the poems—and how they are reading the book all summer long! One boy recently told us he read the entire book to his two little brothers, cover to cover.
This project and its mission of literacy continue to expand in community engagement. We again recruited community volunteers and public safety/fire representatives to help deliver books to area schools. A record of more than 50 community volunteers helped deliver these books, not including public safety. We hosted trainings for volunteers ahead of time.
New to this grant request is our recent kindness book initiative. We were excited to release our own Greater Mankato Area United Way picture book in 2024. “The Kindness Booth” follows a group of friends who set out to make the day brighter for their neighborhood through acts of kindness. Geared toward grades PreK-2, the book was written by Greater Mankato Area United Way’s Laura Murray and was illustrated by Andrea Boatta of Italy.
Proceeds from “The Kindness Booth” books sold benefit the work of Greater Mankato Area United Way. Capstone also donated 2,000 paperback copies for distribution at all local schools, modeled after our Shel Silverstein Fourth-Grade Book Project. This grant request includes $2,000 to purchase 200 hardcover copies of the book at United Way’s discounted rate from the publisher for us to sell directly as a fundraiser to receive full proceeds. This grant request includes $500 for the cost of designing and creating a portable “kindness booth” to take to all schools and community events. The booth has been a tremendous hit among kids and adults, and a great photo-opp. The Olseth Family Foundation logo is printed on the booth.
1,600 fourth-grade students and teachers
Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Waseca counties
1. Provide regional fourth-graders with a new, hardcover copy of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein in order to grow their home libraries, regardless of income level.
2. Raise awareness of United Way's work in the impact area of literacy, encouraging others to get engaged whether through volunteering, donations, etc.
3. Raise funding, awareness, and discussions of kindness/literacy through "The Kindness Booth" book fundraiser.
1. Invite regional elementary schools both public and private to participate in the program by accepting the donation.
2. Promote the initiative among the community and media, focusing on not only the initiative itself but also the larger benefits of reading, writing, and poetry.
3. Have hardcover books available and strategize selling at events, presentations, and community gatherings; create marketing materials and promo strategy/outreach, as well as set up payments and other logistics.
1. Track how many schools participate and how many students are served.
2. Track and share media coverage, community interaction, and other general feedback.
3. Track/log all books sold, coverage, events, and presentations.
01/20/2024
06/08/2024
We are grateful for the leadership and close collaboration of Olseth Family Foundation in continuing the Fourth-Grade Book Project and supporting "The Kindness Booth" initiative. The foundation's dedication to literacy and access to books is having positive change in our region. We partner with schools throughout the region to accommodate their schedules, student enrollment, and teacher numbers. School leaders have been enthusiastic in collaborating. Corporate and community volunteers are an essential part of getting all the books into the hands of students. Public Safety is a valued collaborator in helping at the presentations and encouraging kids to read and be safe on their summer vacation. American Solutions for Business provides a discount for this program's branded stickers. The media has also provided great coverage of this region-wide initiative. For the new kindness initiative, we partnered with Capstone to create and publish the book and to confirm their additional donation of special paperback editions for students. We partnered with Lime Valley Advertising and NSP to create the portable kindness booth. We partnered with local media and organizations to spread the word (for example, Lake Crystal Lions Club, Mankato Sertoma, Mankato Rotary, KEYC, Radio Mankato, The Free Press, Barnes & Noble, and more).
January 2024: Contact HarperCollins Publishing for book pricing estimates (4th-Grade Book Project). Contact Capstone Publishing for ordering "The Kindness Booth" book copies. Create marketing materials; strategize media/promo plan. Work with NSP and Lime Valley Advertising on designing and creating Kindness Booth. Hold book release event for "The Kindness Booth" and announce to media/community. Begin "The Kindness Booth" book fundraiser and continue throughout the year (service club presentations, media promo, etc).
February-March: Contact schools for enrollment/teacher numbers and request donation acceptance; send follow-up communication; confirm school numbers. Contact American Solutions for Business (formerly Paragon Printing) for sticker quotes.
March-April: Meet with Mankato Area Public Schools regarding presentation planning. Place book order. Order stickers. Coordinate routes and distribution schedule with schools.
April: Contact volunteers for stickering/delivering. Confirm presentation plans and scheduling. Prepare books for deliveries by stickering and counting out for each school. Alert media of the deliveries and invite to presentations. Confirm volunteers. Create scripts and talking points for delivery volunteers.
May: Host Zoom trainings for volunteers. Deliver books to schools and present the donation to students.
Unapproved