Food Drive: Success!

The food drive was a wonderful success! We collected 1,238 cans of food, or 3/4 of a ton. Thanks to everybody who came, donated and participated.

We'd also like to thank Rene Rios and H.E.B. Plus for graciously allowing us to hold our food drive / health fair in front of the store.

The next food drive will be on September 13th. More details to come for that.

Hunger fact from South Texas Food Bank Web site:

• 34,269 Webb County children live under the poverty line - enough to fill 714 school buses. If these buses were parked bumper to bumper, they would stretch 8.2 miles.

This Saturday: Food Drive / Health Fair

Hello all! We're continuing our One City, One Book festivities with a food drive that will take place this Saturday at H.E.B. Plus. The health magnet school from J.B. Alexander High will be there conducting a mini health fair, so come along, donate some food and visit for a while! All food items will benefit local food banks.

What: Food drive / mini health fair

Where: In front of the H.E.B. Plus store on Bob Bullock Loop.

When: Saturday, August 29, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

**If you bring your 5 non-perishable food items, we will give out coupons for Sonia Nazario's lecture at the civic center. Remember that you must also attend a book discussion or film screening to fully qualify for a ticket to her talk. You will receive a coupon at the book discussion/film screening. Both coupons can be turned in for a ticket).

Together, we CAN help others.

Turnout

We had a great turnout at the first book discussion and we're looking forward to even more at the next one. Even people who hadn't started reading the book or weren't finished had plenty to say about family and immigration issues. We encourage you to come even if you haven't read the book yet. B. Dalton's Booksellers will be selling the book and the book discussion is a great way to get introduced to the themes in Enrique's Journey.

For people who haven't attended a book discussion yet and are looking to go, we'd like to clarify that if you arrive with food, you will be given one coupon before the discussion. Hold on to that coupon and near the end of the discussion, you will be given another coupon verifying you attended. At the end, turn in both coupons to receive a ticket to Sonia Nazario's talk at the Laredo Civic Center.

And don't forget!

2nd book discussion @

Wednesday, August 19, 6 - 8 p.m. in

the Sue & Radcliffe Killam Library Great Room, 3rd floor

There will be staff and signs to help you find your way. We hope to see you there!

First Book Discussion

Today is our first book discussion at TAMIU. It runs from 3 - 5 p.m. and we are accepting food donations to go toward Sonia Nazario's talk at the Civic Center.

If you can't stay for the discussion, drop by and bring 5 non-perishable food items as the food bank will be there to collect it. There will also be a booth from B. Dalton Booksellers selling Enrique's Journey.

Hope to see you there. Remember:

1st book discussion
@ TAMIU Sue & Radcliffe Killam Library Great Room, 3rd floor
3 - 5 p.m.

Empty Bowls & Hunger Fact of the Day

Empty Bowls
Originally uploaded by laredofoodforthought

Hope everybody is having a pleasant day. I just added a picture from last night's Empty Bowls fundraiser. Our president and secretary attended and Gerda Weissmann Klein's bowl was featured as one of the bowls up for auction. The folk rock band America played.

We believe education breeds understanding and compassion for others, so we'd like to feature a fact about hunger that you may not have known about.

According to Care:

• Six million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger.

Web Sites of Interest

Here are some resources for more information on the themes we are focusing on and our author. Take a minute to browse through - you might find something you're interested in. I'll also be uploading some photos from the August 3 press conference, so check back soon for those.

Facts about Immigration and Genealogy

• The Immigration History Research Center (www.ihrc.umn.edu/ )
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Teacher/Student Resources (http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/teacher/Resources.htm )
• AAD Project ( http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/basicfacts.html )
• Ellis Island (http://www.ellisisland.org/ ) (www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/index2.html ) (www.nps.gov/elis/ )
• U.S. Government ( http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Defense/Citizenship.shtml )

Facts about Hunger

• Care ( http://www.care.org/campaigns/world-hunger/facts.asp )
• Meals for Millions ( http://www.gbgm-umc.org/mfm/hunger_facts.htm )
• Texas Food Bank Network ( http://www.endhungerintex.org/facts.asp )
• The Gleaning Network of Texas ( http://www.gleantexas.org/ )

Sonia Nazario

• Enrique’s Journey Official Web site ( http://www.enriquesjourney.com/ )
• Sonia Nazario’s Blog ( http://sonianazario.blogspot.com/ )
• L.A. Times Articles by Nazario ( http://articles.latimes.com/writers/sonia-nazario )
• Reviews of Enrique’s Journey
  ( http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/enriques_journey/ )

Other Titles of Interest as Read-alongs for Enrique’s Journey

First, we want to remind everybody that the first book discussion for Enrique's Journey is coming up.

When: 3 - 5 p.m.
Where: Sue & Radcliffe Killam Library Great Room, 3rd Floor
Other info: You may bring your own refreshments.

These are recommendations for other books to read dealing with the same themes in Sonia Nazario's Enrique's Journey.

The Jungle Upton Sinclair

Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane

The Immigrants Howard Fast

Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain

A Nation of Immigrants John F. Kennedy

Call Us Americans Dorothy Chernoff

Ashes of Roses Mary Jane Auch

Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien

Journey Patricia MacLachlan

The Odyssey Homer

Night Fires Dr. George Stanley