Book Drop-off/Donation Details:
-- Beginning November 13( )and ending December 11, RAFT and Comerica Bank
will be gathering books. By distributing the books to the organization's
8000 member teachers, RAFT will make them available to San Francisco Bay
Area schools and underserved students.
-- RAFT will distribute the books at its San Jose and Redwood City
locations between December 3( )and December 19.
-- The 35 drop-off points for the books are currently listed online at
www.raft.net and www.mercurynews.info/gor. These drop-off points include
RAFT San Jose at 1355 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 and RAFT
Redwood City at 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065 as well
as 21 selected branches of Comerica Bank in Alameda, Santa Clara and
Santa Cruz Counties.
-- Financial donations, which will be used to purchase additional books,
can be made online at www.raft.net.
-- Volunteers interested in helping RAFT organize and sort the donated
books can sign up online at www.raft.net.
Supporting Quotes:
"Comerica Bank is dedicated to improving the communities where we live and work," said J. Michael Fulton, President and CEO of Comerica Bank's Western Market, based in San Jose. "We are honored to work with RAFT and the Mercury News to ensure that all students have equal access to the opportunities that only a high level of literacy can provide. We look forward to working with RAFT, our customers and our communities to make this year's Gift of Reading campaign a success."
"For our children, reading is an absolutely crucial first step toward mastering an understanding of how our world works and gaining the confidence they need to effectively participate in it," said Mary Simon, Executive Director of RAFT. "We are pleased to work with Comerica Bank and the San Jose Mercury News to make it easier for all teachers to help their students work toward a bright future."
About RAFT
Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) is a non-profit organization that transforms the classroom experience by providing teachers with the materials, training, and support they need to increase student achievement. RAFT's hands-on resources make learning more engaging, memorable, and real for pre K-12 students. The organization offers professional development workshops, how-to demonstrations, low-cost classroom supplies, and pre-packaged classroom activity kits in math, science and art. RAFT impacts 600,000 children each year by "repurposing" materials commonly used in the day-to-day operations of a wide variety of businesses. By supporting RAFT, these companies minimize their footprint on the environment and enable teachers to offer curriculum-based, hands-on activities for pennies per student. Founded by former math and science educator Mary Simon 15 years ago, RAFT serves 8,000 teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.raft.net or call RAFT at (408) 451-1420.
About Comerica Bank
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas that is strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping people and businesses be successful. Comerica Bank also has locations in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, Canada and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $59.6 billion as of September 30, 2009. Web site: www.comerica.com.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010807/CMALOGO)
SOURCE Comerica Bank
http://www.raft.net