The Fourth Annual Reading Bonanza in the Park, East Palo Alto literacy expo on May 17

SILICON VALLEY, Calif. - April 22, 2014 - PRLog -- Stanford Alumni in partnership with Computers for Everyone proudly present the Fourth Annual Reading Bonanza in the Park, East Palo Alto. The event will take place on Saturday, May 17^th, 2014 from 11:00am to 3:00pm at Bell Street Park at 550 Bell Street, East Palo Alto, CA. This is a free fun family literacy expo open to the public. Families are encouraged to join in the fun of reading with youth and teenagers of all ages. There will be reading activities, games, contests and entertainment throughout the day hosted by 100+ volunteers and 30+ community organizations. Free books will be given to all youth attending. There will be FREE FOOD, refreshments, snacks, and many giveaways. Free prizes will be raffled off throughout the day including toys, gift certificates, sports gear, and Great America tickets! The KMEL Street Team will be on site playing music.  A group from Live in Peace’s Music Academy will be performing.  The Stanford Men’s Basketball Team will be working with youth and giving away basketballs and gear.  The East Palo Alto San Mateo County library will host the Imagination Playground, and a magician that will be giving away his secrets by teaching attendees how his magic tricks work. College Track will be hosting their Third Annual Spelling Bee for junior high students and high school students where winners at both levels will be awarded a Mac laptop**! This event is free and open to the public; however pre-registration for your family or a group is strongly suggested at: http://readingbonanzainthepark.eventbrite.com

**Students under 16 will need a parent/guardian present to win or to pick up the laptop.

Reading Bonanza in the Park hopes to bring awareness to the benefits of reading by exposing kids, teenagers and families to a variety of community resources, programs and books for entertainment, education and empowerment. "I wanted to bring this event to our youth because of the impact books made in my life. Growing up poor and disadvantaged, my mother often took us to places that were free including the park and the library. I was able to go to Stanford despite my circumstances because being able to read at a young age gave me an edge. With the internet and TV entertaining our youth and taking away their attention, I wanted to remind our community about the wealth and power of books." - Marlayna Tuiasosopo, event creator and organizer.

This fourth annual event would not be possible without the success of our online fundraising campaign and the support of our presenting sponsors, Patent Law Works, LLP and Kepler’s Books in Partnership with Peninsula Arts & Letters.  Other major sponsors and community partners include: Facebook, San Mateo County Human Services Agency, San Mateo County East Palo Alto Library, Ravenswood School District, Stanford Men’s Basketball, College Track, StarVista, New Sweet Home Church, 106KMEL, Ravenswood Family Health Center, Tongan Gridiron/Kingdom Bowl, Share Literacy, and Southern California Tribal Education Institute.  This event has gotten support from many other organizations and individual donors.  Thank you for the support!

The event is also an opportunity for Stanford University alumni, friends and community members to give back to its surrounding community by volunteering; to sign up to volunteer please visit: https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/events/details?event_id=14768&utm_source=Project_Leader&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=BTF_2014&utm_content=14768
Volunteer : “We are excited to work with the community of East Palo Alto to put on this event. East Palo Alto is filled with gifted, talented and creative youth. Put a book in their hands and powerful things will happen.”

Partnering Organization: “Computers for Everyone is dedicated to closing the digital divide. Reading is a precursor to all kinds of literacy and computer literacy is a precursor to many of the skills that enable life successes. We at Computers for Everyone are proud to help make this a reality in our community.”

This event was instigated by “Beyond the Farm”, an initiative seeking to extend Stanford University’s spirit of service to communities around the world through the volunteer efforts of Stanford alumni, family and friends. With the dedication of every individual within the University’s 200,000+ – strong alumni community, thousands of local causes can be supported and hundreds of global initiatives can be launched.

The mission of Computers for Everyone is to enable our underserved communities to access the digital world through affordable education, equipment, connectivity, and support. For more information visit their website at computersforeveryone.org.

For more information about the event visit http://www.readingrainbowinthepark.org/, check out the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1460787274157475/ (https://www.facebook.com/events/558747777502680/), or contact the event organizer at (415) 517-8843 or tui3@stanfordalumni.org.