Lift Literature and The Marcella Foundation to bring BookMode to South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There is a new partnership between Lift Literature and The Marcella Foundation that will be bringing "BookMode" to South Lake Tahoe - all because of two South Tahoe High graduates.

You probably haven’t heard of BookMode or The Marcella Foundation yet because they are both new:

The Marcella Foundation: The Marcella Foundation was founded by South Tahoe High alumni Sean Fannan, Co-Founder of Chartboost. He recently started the foundation to give back to the South Lake Tahoe community.

BookMode: Together Melissa Uppendahl, founder of Lift Literature, and classmate Fannan developed the BookMode concept as they brainstormed ways to help address the reading crisis faced by schools across the nation in the wake of the pandemic. Their core objective is to ignite the love of reading in kids!

They are calling for projects from local educators and others who work with kids in the K-5 age groups. What is this call for projects all about?

Check out their informational video here.

What: They are looking for projects that will ignite the love of reading in the children they serve. The partnership will give each child in the project their very own Kindle Paperwhite for K=kids and a Bluetooth headset to keep. No strings attached.

Each Kindle comes with:

1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ with access to thousands of books in English and Spanish

A kick-off event hosted by retired teachers

A digital Reading Dashboard developed by BookMode

Who: Schools, non-profits, teachers, and PTAs working with K-5 students in South Lake Tahoe. Individuals are not eligible to apply on behalf of their children.

Why: They believe that if a child is excited about reading at a young age, they will discover the magic, hope, and wonder of books. Kindle Paperwhites are an incredible device that so many kids in the community can benefit from, not only because they contain thousands of books, but because the audiobook feature is a game-changer.

Where: They want to hear your ideas on where to implement this in Tahoe!

Here are some examples of project ideas:

Gifting kindles to a whole grade of kids at an elementary school for a read-a-thon and/or recreational reading.

Using kindles to create reading clubs at an after-school program.

Gifting kindles to kids entering into services like foster care or other community support networks.

How: Funding for this project comes from generous grants from the Marcella Foundation, Tahoe Women’s Community fund, and Lift Literature.

When: Applications are due December 16, 2022, to info@bookmode.org. Application forms are here.