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Students at the Bermuda Early Childhood Center were immersed in the delights of the Books From Friends book festival this month. Bermuda Early Childhood Center, where the first Books From Friends book festival debuted, gives students age pre-kindergarten to 2nd grade a head start to academic success through its innovative programs.
A parade of Books From Friends book characters, with headliners Pete the Cat and Clifford the Big Red Dog, sparked the imagination of the students and brought the stories to life. Pre-K and kindergartners also enjoyed puppet shows and story book reading. Where else can a child have a person dressed as a pizza read them a book? At the end of the festivities, each child received two books and a book bag. In total 506 books were distributed to 253 children.
Congratulations to Assistance League of St. Louis Books From Friends volunteers and thank you to all the staff at Bermuda Early Childhood who contributed their time and talents.
Books From Friends is one of five community programs provided by Assistance League of St. Louis.
The Assistance League of St. Louis is excited to announce that Megan Gallagher has been appointed to the nonprofit’s Advisory Council.
Megan Gallagher, Vice President, Digital Communications, Reinsurance Group of America, has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate communications. She has worked for RGA since July 2014, overseeing digital content, website development and social media. Most recently Meg spearheaded a complete website redesign.
Prior to joining RGA, she spent seven years as Director of Communications at Peabody Energy, where she was responsible for media relations, a range of corporate publications, website redesign, speechwriting, and video and presentation development. Her experience also includes writing the official history and managing internal communications at A.G. Edwards and five years at Smurfit Stone as manager of Corporate Communications.
A resident of Creve Coeur, Meg is a graduate of the University of Virginia and active in the Hunger Ministry at the Church of St. Michael & St. George in Clayton.
In November and December, two local businesses—Republic Services and OsteoStrong Chesterfield—collected new toys to help brighten the holidays for children served through Assistance League of St. Louis community programs.
Just before Christmas, employees of these businesses delivered the toys to ALSTL Headquarters in Ellisville. They were greeted by members who volunteer in ALSTL’s Outreach Program, which serves families in transition or recovering from a crisis, and Project ROSE, which provides much-needed items to women and their children in domestic abuse shelters.
This year toys were given to children in the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s Students in Transition program. When ALSTL Outreach co-chair Diana Huey contacted Students in Transition social worker Janie Burse to ask for her help in distributing the toys, her “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes” response reflected her joy that she would be able to bring good news to many parents, but to one mom, in particular. This mother, knowing that she was unable to purchase any gifts for her children, planned to ask Santa to write them a letter saying he would not be able to deliver any toys to them this year. Imagine her happiness when she learned her children would never receive that letter! Huey explained that the toys were originally intended for another organization, then asked, “Do you believe in miracles? The fact that the toys came just in time to help this particular mom was indeed a Christmas miracle!”
The other half of the toys were distributed through Project ROSE. Beth Yeck and Judy McKay, co-chairs of Project ROSE, shared Diana’s enthusiasm: “These wonderful toy drives made a lot of children happy in the shelters we support! We assembled gifts bags filled with donated items we’ve been collecting all fall for the women and divided the toys among the shelters we serve. Our liaison at the Kathy Weinman Shelter summed things up this way: ‘The families in shelter all had a wonderful holiday thanks to your donations!’”
The 22nd Annual Chesterfield Regional Chamber Gumbo Flats Pumkin 5K Run was enjoyed by over 500 runners. Volunteers from the Assistance League of St. Louis cheered the runners on while tending their booth with the Books From Friends program volunteers dressed in their book character costumes, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Pluto, to name a few.
The Books From Friends program promotes literacy by fostering a love of reading and is one of the Assistance League of St. Louis’s five community programs serving St. Louis. In addition, 25 Assistance League members participated by walking the 5K course.
The Assistance League of St. Louis was chosen as the non-profit to benefit from this exciting annual event, resulting in an approximately $900.00 donation.
Texas-size cowboy hats shared the spotlight with rhinestones and sequin gowns to light up the night as Assistance League of St. Louis celebrated a Rhinestone Cowboy Gala at the Doubletree by Hilton, Chesterfield. Cocktails in hand, guests bid on spectacular "something-for-everyone" silent auction items, a wine pull and First Choice Live Auction Item (chances) before entering the "rhinestone-studded" ballroom. Surrounded by whimsical tables adorned with genuine flower-filled old cowboy boots, the atmosphere was set for laughter, plenty of fun and some very refined fancy cuisine.
The 229 members and guests, all with Texas-size hearts were welcomed by President Denise McKibben and encouraged to raise their paddles to ensure that Assistance League of St. Louis continues to be inspired by "...the boundless spirit of compassion and unity that defines our mission."
(See more photos in Town & Style magazine.)
Pictured: Lynne Turley, Rene Knott, and Sue Graham
Gala Chairs Lynne Turley and Sue Graham, along with a Texas-size team of tireless volunteers spent a year planning and executing Assistance League of St. Louis' largest annual fundraising event. For the first time, the Imagine! Program included ads that contributed substantially to the night's financial success, along with an impressive list of Sponsors.
Pictured left to right: Terri Spink, STEPS chair; Denise McKibben, ALSTL president; Janie Burse, a Ferguson-Florissant Students in Transition Social Worker
With school back in session, the Assistance League of St. Louis STEPS to Success program is off to a strong start. By mid-November Assistance League volunteers will have measured and delivered brand new athletic shoes and socks to nearly 4,000 students in 43 schools throughout the Metro St. Louis region, including schools in St. Louis City, Jennings, Hazelwood, Pattonville, Ritenour and Ferguson-Florissant.
In addition, because of a generous New Balance donation of 850 pairs of new athletic shoes, the nonprofit organization has increased its impact within other partner organizations in the community. Assistance League member Kris Lewis and Assistance League president Denise McKibben worked with New Balance consultant Paris Thompson to facilitate the donation.
The New Balance donation also enabled Assistance League to significantly expand its partnership with the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which serves more than 9,000 students. The district received 625 pairs of the New Balance shoes.
View the article in Town & style.
Pictured on the cover: Gwendolyn Diggs, ED.D., President Denise McKibben, and Author Michael Anderson with students from Iveland Elementary School.
Pete the Cat and other storybook characters, all costumed volunteers from Assistance League of St. Louis, paraded through America’s Center on Saturday, August 5 to kick off the Books from Friends program for the 2023-24 school year. Following the parade, volunteers hosted a booth at the Urban League Back-to-School Expo. Aspiring young readers who visited the booth received age-appropriate books to take home, with more than 6,200 books being distributed dur-ing the Expo. Visitors to the booth also had a chance to meet local guest author Micheal Anderson, whose Zoey Lyndon series is a favorite with middle grade students. Ms. Anderson autographed 300 copies of Zoey books and personalized them for the children. All of the books teach life lessons, and the author says she wrote the books so that children who look like her will see characters they can relate to in the books they read.
”We hope the parade and books will help these young people know how much fun reading can be” said Assistance League of St. Louis president Denise McKibben. “Last year, as our volunteers visited and read with children at Head Start programs and other early childhood settings, we distributed more than 18,000 books through Books from Friends to encourage a love of reading.”
Assistance League's Action Week is an opportunity for us to come together and make a difference in the lives of those we serve. With 120 chapters nationwide, Assistance League is committed to providing support and resources to families in need.
During the month of August, our St. Louis chapter will be raising awareness and funds to help us continue our mission. We hope you'll join us and be a part of this important initiative.
Your donation, whether it's monetary or in-kind, can make a real difference in the life of a family experiencing urgent need in time of crisis. Your in-kind donation will provide much needed items for families through our Outreach program. Your monetary donation will help fund our five community programs.
Thank you for helping us make a positive impact in the St. Louis community.
CREATING CONNECTIONS - BUILDING BRIDGES TOGETHER
Retired Corporate Manager Embodies Optimism & Pragmatic Problem-solving Skills
In 2019, when Denise McKibben joined Assistance League of St. Louis, she quickly stepped up to become co-chair of the Outreach program. Drawn by the Outreach focus on children and families in need, she never suspected that the Covid pandemic would soon complicate this new volunteer mission. Faced with challenges, Denise explains: " I immediately look at what our options are. I do not give up. I am very pragmatic and linear in my approach to problem-solving." Chairs Denise and Terri Spink managed 40 Outreach volunteers helping an unprecedented number of families during unprecedented circumstances. Requests for unmet needs assistance rose 250% during Covid and ALSTL Outreach volunteers worked over 2500 hours to assist 4604 individuals.
With her leadership skills proven during the pandemic, it's no surprise that Denise was elected President for 2023-2024. She believes in optimism in the face of difficulties and emphasizes positive feedback: "I always try to catch people doing good."
Denise has several major goals this year. She believes that ALSTL leaders "should continue to be more visible in the St. Louis community." She also hopes to begin development of a young professionals group within the St. Louis chapter. She plans to encourage the 443 members to become more involved and to take on leadershiip roles. Denise has proven that courage in the face of challenges and a positive attitude make a difference. Assistance League of St. Louis has met challenges in this community for 35 years. Denise has determined to Create Connections and Build Bridges Together as we begin the next 35 years.
