THINK Together and OC Fair Partnered On Children’s Book Drive On “We Care Wednesday” July 25

Through a new partnership with the OC Fair, THINK Together, the state’s fastest growing provider of extended learning time programs, took part in this year’s We Care Wednesday event on July 25, taking in nearly 60,000 new and used books to be distributed to children throughout Orange County. In exchange for the donation, OC Fairgoers received free Fair admission and a carnival ride.

“We Care Wednesday is a very popular promotion at the OC Fair,” said Jerome Hoban, CEO of OC Fair & Event Center. “It is a great way for Fairgoers to give back to the community through our food, book, clothing and school supply drives, and get something in return – a day at the Fair. In addition to helping those in need, it is another way to save at the OC Fair.”

The 2012 OC Fair, themed Home Sweet Home, is July 13 – August 12 and brings 23 days of food, rides, exhibits, animals, music, action sports and fun. Those attendees who participated in the children’s book drive today got a day full of fun at the Fair and contributed to early literacy and learning all at the same time.

“We are so thrilled to participate in the OC Fair’s weekly We Care Wednesday event along with the OC Food Bank, Second Harvest, Goodwill of Orange County and poverty relief agency Share Our Selves,” said THINK Together’s Executive Director of Orange County, Nadia Flores. “We had 67 volunteers helping out at the book drive today with a total of more than 268 community service hours.”

Volunteers included Chief People Officer Beccie Dawson, center, with her husband Jim, left, and Don, the husband of Benefits Administrator Patti Odlum, on the right.

This year OC Fair children’s bookdrive attracted 21,356 participants. There was a total of 59, 353 books collected with an in-kind value of $148,382.50. These books will be distributed widely around Orange County to support THINK Together’s organizational needs in: Reach Out and Read (ROR), Learning Centers, Early Literacy and Math Program Book Bank, and After-School programs. THINK Together’s Early Literacy and Math Program is made possible through a partnership with the Children & Families Commission of Orange County.

In addition, messenger and delivery service Orange Courier committed its support of this event with materials to complete the book drive process worth up to $1,500.

The Fair gives out annually an average of 20,000 tickets for its We Care Wednesday promotions. In addition to the book drive, We Care Wednesday events include a food drive (July 18), a clothing drive (Aug. 1) and a school supply drive (Aug. 8), all sponsored by the OC Fair. More information can be found at http://www.ocfair.com/promotions.

The OC Fair & Event Center is located off the 405 and 55 freeways at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa. For more information, please visit ocfair.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/OCFair, follow at twitter.com/ocfair or call (714) 708-1500.

Orange County Executive Director Nadia Flores prepares for her TV shot on KTLA.

Also check out KTLA story on our partnership with the OC Fair to organize a children’s book drive here.

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