Project Make [it] count: Lake Erie

Donating literacy materials to an elementary school

My name is Matt Curbeau, and I am a first-year associate with PwC. I live and work in Rochester, New York. I live by myself in an apartment where I pretty much only sleep, study, and eat with the occasional movie thrown in the mix. Other than that I am exercising either at the World Gym, just up the street, or at our lovely office facilities in the Bausch & Lomb building in downtown Rochester.

I am originally from a small town in the Finger Lakes region of New York called Penn Yan. My mother and father, Bonnie and Richard, own a real estate agency called Curbeau Realty. However, as I selected the field of accounting, it looks like I will not be following in their footsteps as a real estate agent.

My Idea:

On Monday, November 24, I will be visiting my nephew's second-grade class in Baldwinsville, Syracuse. I was lucky enough to be able to join my sister and another mother, who were planning to have a Thanksgiving arts and crafts type event for the class. During the afternoon, I will be able to read to the children, take part in arts and crafts with them, and be able to use the Project Make [it] count money that I have been seeded to purchase new books for the children individually, as well as for the classroom.

In order to instill the true meaning of Thanksgiving and the spirit of giving to those less fortunate during the holiday season, I will also lead a project in which the children will create personal letters/notes that will accompany donated books to a chosen charity for children. Therefore, this will really bring the project full circle as the children will not only be receiving a book of their own, but they will also be giving books to children who are less fortunate

I feel that being able to give my time toward the benefit of children will be immensely rewarding. I am not only going to be able to give the children the gift of a book, but I am also going to give them my time and attention. Throughout my interaction with the children, I think I will have a very positive impact on them. I have set in motion a chain of events that will influence these children to give back to their community. It's kind of like the movie "Pay it Forward," in which for every good deed a person receives, he or she in return performs a good deed for another. I will be giving to these children in my nephew's class directly, yet indirectly I have created something that will lead to the benefit of a needy child whom I do not know. I think this is really neat, and I truly love how my project has evolved since its inception. It's truly amazing to see how much help there is out there once you get your voice heard. Many people are willing to help a good cause; it usually just takes one person to get the ball rolling.

11-14-08

• I will visit my sister Missy this weekend in Syracuse, and my mom, Bonnie, will come along with me. We plan to go to Barnes & Noble and arts and crafts stores to purchase books/supplies for the upcoming visit to my nephew's school. My sister is very knowledgeable about children's literature and will be a valued asset for me. This will be an excellent opportunity for photos as well.
• I just checked my mail, and yes, indeed, my AMEX travelers checks arrived. Four $100 checks and one $50. Very cool!
• And look at that, I just checked my book drop in the office break room, and it looks like people have begun to drop off their donated books!

Hunting for books

11-17-08

My main goal on Sunday was to meet with my sister Missy and catch up on everything that had been going on in Syracuse. While I had been in Rochester making plans of my own, my nephew's second-grade class had been putting my project into action. Ms. Allen, my nephew Matthew's teacher, had the children create lists of their favorite books to assist me in my purchase at Barnes & Noble. These books, in particular, would be donated to a charity of the children's selection. My sister had let Ms. Allen know that any suggestions or requests that she might have would be greatly appreciated as well. Missy relayed to me that Ms. Allen had thought that it would be really great to have a set of books about Martin Luther King Jr. for the classroom.

Once I had caught up with Missy on what was happening in the classroom, we set out to begin our book search. I brought my mom, Bonnie, Missy, and Matthew (Because I will be visiting his class, he has been privy to some secrets and surprises, but I think he will be able to hold them in until the 24th ). We were greeted warmly at the store by a very nice lady named Elaine who was kind enough to give us a 20 percent educator's discount, which allowed me to buy more books.

We began our search for the Martin Luther King Jr. book sets. Elaine was extremely helpful and showed us many books that could work. In the end, we selected eight high reader level books for the second grade in a chapter book form, eight medium reader level books and eight lower reader level books, which were both based more on pictures. However, each of these books does a great job of representing the life of Martin Luther King Jr. They will definitely be a great addition to any classroom. Along with those 24 books, I also picked out a higher end, hard-back book about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. This book will be for the classroom.

While we were looking at Martin Luther King Jr. books, a very neat thing happened. Mr. A, Matthew's school librarian, was shopping for books for the school. Again, I was in the right place at the right time. It was really neat to see my nephew interact with another teacher outside of the school setting. Mr. A. is a really neat guy and had some great advice. He helped in narrowing down some selections of different books I was thinking about for the Martin Luther King Jr. book selections. This project is one that truly keeps on growing and growing. Many people have given their time and efforts, and it really has allowed me to make the most of my project.

After we decided on the MLK Jr. books, we went to work on choosing books that would be donated to the children's choice of charity. We chose a set of "Magic Tree House Books," and I purchased the whole set of 28 books. Each student in my nephew's class will be able to write a letter that will accompany these books to the needy children during this holiday season.

Lastly, I began searching for a book that I would give to the children. I had the idea of finding one book based on Thanksgiving. This book would be read aloud to them at the end of my day with them. I found a perfect Thanksgiving book called "Thanksgiving Is…" by Gail Gibbons. It is not a lengthy book by any means; however, it will allow me to read a whole book to the children in a short amount of time. The best thing about this particular book is that is does a great job of giving an overview of Thanksgiving, how it came to be, and how they can incorporate it into their lives. Each student will be given this book, and the class will be able to follow along with me as I read it. My hope is that the children will take the book home and share it with their families.

We accomplished a lot in a short time Sunday. Many books have been ordered, and they are steadily being received. I am very excited about next Monday. It is amazing to see how everything has come together so well for this project. Ms. Allen has done an amazing job getting her class organized and excited about the project.

Gobble gobble

I went into the office for a couple of hours before I headed to Syracuse for today's big event. My co-workers have been extremely generous in giving books that will be donated to a charity chosen by the children. Even on the short notice that I gave my co-workers they have really done an awesome job. One co-worker even came in on her day off to make sure that I received the books she had given before I left for Syracuse.

I found out that the week before my scheduled visit, Ms. Allen had the children drafting letters that would accompany the books donated to less fortunate children. Her students were able to spend time thinking about other children who were not as lucky as themselves. These letters were very special.

I am going to be picking up the remaining books on order from Barnes & Noble on my way to my sister's house today. I will meet up with Missy, and we will be able to prepare for the event. Our invitation to the classroom is scheduled for 2-3 p.m.

2 p.m. November 24

My sister Missy and I arrived at my nephew's school about 2 p.m. We checked in at the school office and then went to Ms Allen's classroom to prepare for the children. They were outside having recess, which enabled us to set up what we had brought in for the class.

When the children came in from recess, Ms. Allen had them sit down so that she could introduce us. After the introductions, I was able to talk to the children about my project. I told them about how wonderful it was that they were thinking about other needy children during this holiday season. I made it a point to let the children know that they really did an awesome job in creating lists of their favorite books that they would like to donate. I then showed them the donated books from our office along with the set of "Magic Tree House" books (the set is shown in the picture of me with a stack of books wrapped in red ribbon) that I bought per the popular request of the class. All in all, I was just so impressed with how Ms Allen took the initiative to contribute to this project's success. Ms. Allen from day one had the children fully involved. She helped the children draft letters to the recipients of the donated books. These letters were really amazing. Here is an example of one of the letters (same spelling as child):

Dear Friends,
I'm a 2nd Grade Student at McNamara. I hope you enjoy the books. You are special in every way and in every day! I hope you get better soon. If you get scared bring your stuft animal that it what I wood do.
Your New Friend,
Cassidy

After I talked to the children about the amazing job they had done in preparation for the day, I was honored with the opportunity to read to the children. This was a very exciting time for me. I was able to give each child a copy of a book called "Thanksgiving Is…" by Gail Gibbons. I also wrote a message in the books to give them a personal touch. (Shown in pictures attached)

After I read to the children, my sister Missy led an arts and crafts activity. The chosen activity was to make a "Thankful Thoughts" journal. Many of the children began writing what they were thankful for in the journal without being told. They just started writing; pretty neat, huh? As you will see in the pictures attached, some began to draw as well. Overall it was a great activity that enabled the children to create something while sharing "thankful thoughts." (On Thanksgiving Day at my sister Missy's house, each member of my family took turns writing in my nephew's Thankful Thoughts journal. This was a great activity for everyone and one that I'm sure was happening in many other households.)

During the art and craft session I was lucky enough to be able to meet my nephew's principal, Judy. She even posed for a picture with my nephew Matthew (I think he liked this, as it gave him some possible "brownie points," — ha-ha — at least that's what my sister thought).

Overall, the experience went GREAT! My project began as just being about books. I was just going to give the children books with the money I had been given. However, throughout my project my resources kept growing and growing because of the people who had become involved. My family was helping me; my nephew's teacher was doing things in the classroom in preparation; the children were working hard, etc… My project went well beyond the money that I was seeded. I am so happy and proud that I was able to initiate this, and I hope that I can do more projects like this.

11-27-08

When I arrived at Missy's house on Thanksgiving, I was delighted to be presented with a book of thanks that was created by my nephew's class. Ms. Allen and the children created a book comprised of thank-you letters from each child. This was so nice! The letters really meant a lot to me, affirming the fact that I had done something that made a lasting impact. I think the children will remember my visit and what we did together. Receiving this sort of a gift with personal messages from each child is really great and something that I definitely will cherish.