Rowan University “Spring Cleaning” recycles magazines to new readers for Earth Week

Help us to promote and grow this wonderful seed planted by Ad Dynamics – the student run ad agency at Rowan University in NJ… during an Earth Week “spring cleaning” event, students recycled over 100 magazines to new readers via Volunteers of America. The Ad Dynamics team also documented how to organize a Spring Cleaning event, including posters, brochures, presentations, and even a video.

 

How to organize a Magazine Recycling event

Spring Cleaning – Magazine Harvest Poster

Kudos to Katie Simmons – a Literacy Beacon in Boston

Donate to support our Boston Distribution Center

Katie Simmons has been a long-time MagazineLiteracy.org champion in the Boston area, collecting and delivering thousands of magazines to hundreds of children and families in shelters and literacy programs.  She gives every bit of heart and soul delivering magazines out of the back of her well-traveled jeep.  At the same time, she takes a personal interest in each individual matching wonderful magazines to wonderful children and moms, and working closely with agencies to understand their needs.  She is a bright light – a beacon among beacons – for our magazine literacy work that burns around the clock.  Thank you Katie for feeding so many the knowledge and the joy that magazines deliver.

The Perfect Match

Hello everyone! My name is Helene Beauchemin, currently a sophomore at Cornell University, and I have something exciting to share.  As part of the college bound summer ritual, you are supposed to search for a great internship that will allow you to have a good glimpse as to what lies ahead in your career.

Not only did I find a great internship, but also a very meaningful and rewarding one.  No hefty paychecks or exotic trips, something bigger than that, a great non-profit organization that shares my passion about magazines.

Through volunteer efforts, MagazineLiteracy.org, led by Mr. Mennell, connects volunteers willing to collect, sort and distribute used and new magazines, with agencies, schools and other organizations whose clients can benefit from the simple format and great photography that magazines present to their readership.  These are people whose resources don’t allow ready access to magazines, but when presented with them, they enjoy them greatly and improve their literacy.

My job is to create the Magazine Literacy Ambassador platform that will coordinate these volunteer groups and the continuous flow of magazines and donations to those in need at the grass roots level. I have started working on the logistics for the creation of these community teams in my residential area Rockland County.  I have sent out e-mails to agencies whose members may benefit from receiving the magazines containing information on our organization and a quick questionnaire that I developed to better understand and serve their needs and wants.

I have also created a facebook group called Magazine Literacy Ambassadors where our volunteers can share a forum to exchange ideas and improve their efforts.  I have already contacted a few extraordinary young adults who have played a major role in their community gathering and distributing books and magazines.  I know that they will be a great contribution to our efforts, and the next step will be expanding this group to anyone passionate about magazines and helping others by providing them with an outlet of knowledge and entertainment and a relief from their daily lives.