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Washington , DC – October 11, 2005 – First Book and the Embassy of Japan today announced new partnership to benefit Book Relief. As part of this partnership, on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 , the Embassy of Japan will host a series of three events at the residence of Ambassador Ryozo Kato. This partnership is part of the Book Relief initiative, which will place millions of books in the hands of the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The central event of the evening will be a reception at the residence of the Ambassador. In addition, individuals and corporations that provide substantial support for this effort will have the opportunity to attend a VIP reception and/or private dinner at the residence.
In addition to the November events, the First Book – Embassy of Japan partnership will include several elements that highlight Japanese American culture and create a cultural link between American and Japanese children. One of the features of the partnership will be an exchange between schoolchildren in America and Japanese schoolchildren both in Japan and the United States. A customized bookplate will be created and sent to Japanese children who will write special messages to the children who have been affected by the hurricanes. Those bookplates will then be placed inside books and distributed to American children affected by the hurricanes. The Embassy will also be choosing several children’s book titles that will be purchased and donated as a collection to select schools and libraries as they are rebuilt. These books will include Japanese folk tales, books about Japan, and titles written by Japanese and Japanese-American authors.
“The Embassy of Japan is proud to join First Book in providing books to children who have lost so much,” said Ambassador Kato. “The Embassy has joined this effort as a tangible way to demonstrate the compassion and commitment of the Japanese people during this time of need. We believe this effort will forge an even stronger bond between the people of our countries.”
“We are honored that the Embassy of Japan has become our partner in this effort and has graciously offered to host this series of events to benefit Book Relief,” said Kyle Zimmer, President of First Book. “ This is a tremendous opportunity that will enable First Book, through Book Relief, to better meet the needs of the families and programs that have been affected by the hurricanes. We look forward to joining the Ambassador and his wife, the Embassy of Japan, and many other concerned members of the national and international community to place wonderful new books into the hands of children who are in such need.”
The reception is expected to attract attendees across a wide spectrum, including executives from the publishing industry and other corporations, authors, sports figures, elected officials, and other prominent members of the community. The Honorary Event Host Committee is an impressive list comprised of notables from many fields of endeavor:
Honorary Host Committee Co-chairs:
The Honorable Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
The Honorable Thad Cochran (R-MS)
The Honorable James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Honorary Host Committee:
Honorable Susan Collins (R-ME)
Honorable Trent Lott (R-MS)
Honorable Patty Murray (D-WA)
Honorable Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Honorable Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4th)
Honorable Richard H. Baker (R-LA-6th)
Honorable Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26th)
Honorable Mike Conaway (R-TX-11th)
Honorable Danny Davis (D-IL-7th)
Honorable Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-5th)
Joan Allen, Actor
Wally Amos, Chairman & CEO, Cookie & Chip, LLC
Elizabeth Arky, Director, Government Relations, Accenture
Barbara Taylor Bradford, Author
Ruby Bridges, Author, Activist
Raymond S. Calamaro, Hogan & Hartson, LLP
Christopher Cerf, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Sirius Thinking, Ltd.
Harold Clarke, President and Publisher, Reader’s Digest
Wilbur Colom, The Colom Law Firm
Deborah Dugan, President, Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, LP
Jane Friedman, President and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers
Laura Geringer, Author and Publisher
Chip Gibson, President and Publisher, Random House Children's Books
Peter Gold, The Gold Group, Chtd.
Darrell Green, President, Darrell Green Enterprises
Lisa Holton, President, Scholastic Children's Trade Books
L. Spencer Humphrey, Principle, Rocky Hill Group
Japan Commerce Association of Washington, DC
Susan Katz, President and Publisher, HarperCollins Children’s Books
Reba McEntire, President, Starstruck Entertainment
Marlee Matlin, Actor
Shuji Mizumoto, General Counsel and Director, Legal and Government Affairs, Amway Japan Limited
Mary Pope Osborne, Author
James Patterson, Author
Tim Pinnington, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse USA
Paula Quint, President, Children’s Book Council
Carolynn Reid-Wallace
Rick Richter, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Patricia Schroeder, President, Association of American Publishers
Charlotte Sheedy, Literary Agent
Tom Tolworthy, Chief Executive Officer, The Vitamin Shoppe
Workman Publishing Company
Judith Zimmer, Deputy Director, Street Law, Inc.
About First Book
First Book is a national nonprofit organization that gives children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. In neighborhoods across the country, First Book Advisory Boards unite leaders from all sectors of the community to identify the most effective community-based literacy programs reaching children living at or below the poverty line and provide them with First Book grants of free books and educational materials. The First Book National Book Bank, a subsidiary program of First Book, is the first centralized system that enables publishers to donate books and educational materials online to reach millions of children who need them the most. First Book has distributed nearly 35 million new books to children in need in hundreds of communities nationwide. To learn more about First Book, please visit www.FirstBook.org.
About Book Relief
Book Relief, an initiative of First Book, is the nation’s most comprehensive effort to place books into the hands of children and adults from whom recent natural disasters have taken so much. Book Relief is an unparalleled, publishing industry-wide program to place at least five million books into the hands of those displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as into schools, libraries, and literacy programs in the devastated areas as they are rebuilt. To learn more about Book Relief, please visit www.BookRelief.org.
The Embassy of Japan
In response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Japanese private sector and the Government of Japan immediately provided assistance for recovery and reconstruction efforts. Thus far, Japanese corporations have provided over $23 million dollars in assistance, while the Government of Japan has provided relief supplies, the release of oil stocks, and substantial financial assistance to the Red Cross. To learn more about the Embassy of Japan, please visit www.embjapan.org.
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