Good Friday Morning everyone!  It is a beautiful sunny day here in Portland, Oregon and is forecasted to be a fantastic 3 day weekend!

A good friend of mine since Junior High, Kami Gray, wardrobe stylist and author of the bestseller, The Denim Diet: Sixteen Simple Habits to Get You into Your Dream Pair of Jeans Today she is running a contest on her blog for a goody bag full of some free stuff including a personalized signed copy of her book and the following: 

Dagoba New Moon, Organic Dark Chocolate (74% Cacao Content)

 ”This fun little give-a-way contest is EASY. All you have to do is comment below and tell me what you had for breakfast. lunch, or dinner yesterday. No cheating! The first person that sends in a Denim Diet-approved meal gets the goody bag and signed book. It’s my book so I’m the judge!” Kami says. click here to enter.

Good luck to you all, if you do not win, I highly recommend you buy this amusing no-nonsense  book of how we can get into.. and stay in.. our favorite thing on earth…..DENIM!  Click here to buy The Denim DietBy the way, The Denim Diet is now available on Kindle.

Wow, what a turn out at the Wieden and Kennedy reception for the online art auction, W+K=MAKE, benefiting DenimID’s favorite charity, Room to Read…..And Denim was EVERYWHERE and in all different ways, showing some real DenimID’s!  Check out the gallery below.

“Welcome to our global art show! The show features artwork from employees across all disciplines and represents all of our global offices including Amsterdam, Delhi, London, New York, Portland, Shanghai and Tokyo. In keeping with W+K’s dedication to supporting charities that provide educational opportunities, all proceeds from the show will benefit Room to Read.” www.wkmake.com

Superstar advertising firm, Wieden and Kennedy is holding a global online art auction, W+K=MAKE, benefiting DenimID’s favorite non-profit, Room to Read.  Stop by the Wieden and Kennedy ultra sleek company headquarters for the opening reception and to view the art work in person this Thursday, May 7th in Portland, Oregon from 6 to 10 PM.  

Room to Read: Our Mission

We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Room to Read has developed a holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the developing world gain the lifelong gift of education. The approach includes the following programs:

• School Room — We partner with villages to build schools.
• Reading Room — We establish bi-lingual libraries and fill them with donated English books and local language books purchased in-country or self-published, creating a colorful space with posters, games, furniture, and flooring.
• Local Language Publishing — We source new content from local writers and illustrators and publish high-quality local language children’s books to distribute throughout our networks.
• Girls’ Education — We fund long-term girls’ scholarships for young girls who would otherwise not have access to an education.

To increase the likelihood for success and long-term sustainability, Room to Read enlists community involvement and co-investment through our Challenge Grant model. Villages often raise a significant portion of the overall expenditure in the form of dedicated space, labor, materials and/or small amounts of cash. These challenge grants act as catalysts for community building while also maximizing the local participation and expertise brought to our programs.

We hire local staff, who are personally vested in their nation’s educational progress and we empower them to make key programmatic decisions within their country. They are already familiar with the language, conditions, customs and governments and understand the specific needs of the educational system and work to ensure that we craft new solutions to existing problems.

Room to Read: Results to Date

Since our inception in 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 3.1 million children in the developing world by: (1)

• Constructing 765 schools
• Establishing over 7,040 libraries
• Publishing 327 new local language children’s titles representing over 2.8 million books
• Donating over 2.8 million English language children’s books
• Funding 6,817 long-term girls’ scholarships
• Establishing 179 computer and language labs (2)

Weiden and Kennedy is having an online global art auction with proceeds going to DenimID’s favorite non-profit, Room to Read www.roomtoread.com.  Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Be a part of this incredible movement to change the world through education and work with and meet some great people.  There are chapters around the world. Get involved!

DenimID is very involved with the Portland Chapter of Room To Read.

Would love to hear comments, ideas, suggestions, and DenimID’s around the world!