This week we received some beautiful merchandise from AID TO ARTISANS. More incredible than the product is the story behind this group and what they do in the world marketplace today. As leaders in both economic development and product innovation globally since 1976, Aid To Artisans [ATA] helps encourage and build sustainable craft businesses based on traditional, handmade techniques in regions who’s well being benefit directly from the goods produced.

VH1 save the music foundation, Girls Write Now, Police Athletic League, American Museum of Natural History, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Pajama Program, Children’s Aid Society, National Dance Institute & Women In Need.

Each of these NYC based children’s charities  campaigned to be selected as one of our next beneficiaries.  Over the course of the four weeks, we collected just under 1400 votes. We emptied porkchop at closing on April 30th and  counted each one. Yesterday we notified the following organizations that they had  received the most votes and would be our partners for the third and fourth quarters of this year.

August-October
National Dance Institute [485 votes]
Girls Write Now [87 votes]

November-January
Police Athletic League [368 votes]
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society [199 votes]

We would like to thank each of our nine semi-finalist as well as all of you who came in to vote.
We hope to see you again soon!

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MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING

Pediatric Cancer Care, Memorial Sloan Kettering A unique multi-disciplinary approach which offers children and young adults with cancer the best opportunity for accurate diagnosis and the most effective treatment available, emphasizing treatments that target and cure cancer and return children to a normal life.

THE ASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN

Association to Benefit Children (ABC) For children who start life destitute, abused and neglected, it may seem that destiny is set.  The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) refuses to accept that.  ABC treasures the infinite potential of every child and champions each one’s right to succeed.

Since 1986, ABC’s focus has been on New York City’s most at-risk children.  ABC creates nationally replicable program models that meet the complex needs of each family member.  Today, ABC serves thousands of children and their family members with a continuum of education, mental health, housing, prevention and supportive services from infancy through adulthood.

Come in, purchase something you love and help make a difference.

Come to treasure&bond during the month of April and vote for the organization that you think we should partner with next.

Get to Know: National Dance Institute

Some might think it’s an overstatement to say that the arts can save a child’s life, but we see it all the time.

National Dance Institute has been transforming young lives in New York City for 35 years with arts education programming that nurtures the body, mind, and spirit of each and every child we serve – regardless of background or ability. Our energetic instruction transcends barriers of language, culture, and physical and cognitive challenges.

Reaching 5,000 children each week, National Dance Institute sends teams of highly trained teaching artists into public schools throughout New York City, providing year-long dance and music experiences that improve children’s critical thinking; hone social, communication and collaboration skills; develop self-confidence and discipline; and instill healthy habits that support their success in school and in life.

USE OF FUNDS
Please help us bring the transformative power of the arts to more New York City public school children. 100% of every dollar raised from treasure & bond will help National Dance Institute to:

• Nourish the whole health – body, mind, and spirit – of more children.
• Equip more children with the tools and inspiration to achieve their personal best, both individually and collectively.
• Provide a safe and nurturing environment for more children to explore and discover the excellence that resides within themselves.
• Help more children see a future filled with promise.

Come to treasure&bond during the month of April and vote for the organization that you think we should partner with next.

Get to Know: the Police Athletic League

For 98 years, the Police Athletic League (PAL) has brought kids, communities and cops together to protect and develop New York City’s most precious resource– its youth.  Known widely for our top-notch sports programs, PAL serves over 47,000 young people citywide through a diverse portfolio of programs that includes: After School, Evening Teen Centers, Summer Day Camps, Summer Play Streets, Sports, Truancy Prevention, and Juvenile Justice Services for our City’s most vulnerable youth.

One of PAL’s most exciting programs – Youth Link – is making a big impact in the juvenile justice field by helping young people who get in trouble with the law at an early age to get their lives back on track.  The program has dramatically lowered recidivism rates while reconnecting kids to school and putting them to work in their communities. While taxpayers spend $256,000 per year to send one young person to juvenile detention, PAL can spend $3,700 per year to help that same young person become a productive citizen.  The Police Athletic League – the Best Friend a Kid Can Have. 

Help the Police Athletic League achieve their goals by coming in during the month of April and voting for them to be one of beneficiaries this fall.

see you soon
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Come to treasure&bond during the month of April and vote for the organization that you think we should partner with next.

Get to Know: VH1 Save the Music Foundation

The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education.

To date, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has restored music education programs in 1,800 public elementary and middle schools, improving the lives of more than 1.8 million children across the United States. During that time, the Foundation has raised, and in turn, granted nearly $50 million worth of new musical instruments to underserved school districts across the country.

With funds raised through our partnership with treasure&bond, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation will work with local music retailers to purchase complete band, string, keyboard, mariachi or guitar packages for benefiting school New York City public school(s).

If you want to help VH1 Save the Music in NYC schools, come in and vote for them to be one of our next beneficiaries.

see you soon
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Come to treasure&bond during the month of April and vote for the organization that you think we should partner with next.

Get to Know: Girls Write Now

Organizational Overview

Distinguished as one of the top 15 after-school arts and culture programs in the nation by The President’s Committee on Arts & Humanities, Girls Write Now (GWN) is the first organization in the United States with a writing/mentoring model exclusively for girls. From young women exploring writing to seasoned professionals practicing their craft every day, Girls Write Now is a community of women writers dedicated to providing the guidance, support and opportunities for high-school girls to develop their creative, independent voices, and write their way to a better future. GWN has an incredibly rich history of delivering successful, premium programming free of cost to an audience that is overwhelmingly low-income and of color. For nearly fifteen years, we have built a record of achievement and innovation that has been recognized twice by the White House, and by The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, the MacArthur Foundation, and global branding firm Siegel+Gale. This January, we were honored by Youth, I.N.C. as one of the three most enterprising and innovative nonprofits improving the lives of New York City youth.

The Mentoring Program

Through our signature Mentoring Program, GWN matches bright, creative teen girl writers with professional women writers, who serve as their mentors for an intensive relationship that lasts a minimum of one year. Each mentor-mentee pair meets for 1-3 hours each week, focusing on writing, revising, and editing, while building an intimate bond. Our full group of mentees and mentors meets monthly for a series of communal, inter-generational workshops that provide structure to the program. Our annually-refreshed genre-based workshops guide the curriculum and drive the creation of mentees’ developmental writing portfolios, as they delve deeply into six literary genres: fiction, poetry, memoir, journalism, play- or screen-writing, and a “wild card”. Recent writing workshops have focused on sketch comedy, food writing, crime fiction, romantic comedies, and adaptations. Our program year culminates with CHAPTERS, a series of spring readings open to the public, showcasing the best original work from each girl in the program.  At our final reading, we debut our annual Anthology, comprised of work by all mentor and mentee participants—for most of our teens, their first publication.

Through this core program, we seek to address a myriad of interconnected, systemic, gender-based issues, including women’s voices being underrepresented in the public sphere, disparity in the classroom, lack of visible role models for women writers (especially minority women), and the need for young women to be provided with leadership opportunities. Our rigorous enrollment process for mentees and mentors, highly-structured curriculum, and integrated programmatic supports have scaffolded impressive accomplishments: uncommonly high retention rates, annual successes at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and yearly program evaluations that show significant gains in mentees’ self-expression, editing ability, and public speaking skills. In a city where 40% of students fail to graduate high school on time and only 21% are deemed college-ready at graduation, GWN is proud to report that 100% of our seniors graduate and move on to college – bringing with them awards, scholarships, a new sense of confidence and new skills.

You have the power to help Girls Write Now  become one of our new beneficiaries by coming in store and voting!

see you soon
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Come to treasure&bond during the month of April and vote for the organization that you think we should partner with next.

Get to Know: Pajama Program

Pajama Program provides new books and new pajamas to children in need, many who are waiting and hoping to be adopted.  The children we serve live in various situations including group homes, shelters and temporary housing facilities and are shuffled often from one place to another. Many of them have been abandoned, abused or neglected. Some of the children are living with their families below the poverty level, in desperate need of food, clothing and shelter. “Danger Season”  (October 1 – March 31)  is the most difficult time for the children we serve. Temperatures drop at night and the children are cold, afraid and lonely.  Most of them have never enjoyed the simple comfort of having a mother or father tuck them in at bedtime with warm, clean pajamas and a bedtime story. So many are left without a family and friends and without hope — they feel like they don’t belong anywhere or to anyone. Warm, clean pajamas help them get through the cold night and are like a warm hug before they go to bed. Storybooks help them dream about what they want to be when they grow up. Our wait list of children is now the longest it’s ever been and we need your help.

“Sweet Dreams at the Pajama Program Reading Center”

A grant from Treasure & Bond will help more children who will now be able to attend our Pajama Program Reading Center in NYC. Our reading sessions here are organized for the children we serve.  Reading with the pre-school children is vital in giving them an opportunity to begin school with some basic knowledge of books and words. Many of the school-age children who attend our Reading Center have fallen behind in their reading skills and no longer have access to books to read on a regular basis. Too many have been removed from school for months at a time with no continuation of their reading practice. Owning their own books is very important for all the children we see here. As we read together we make the children feel safe, warm and loved in this difficult time in their young lives. Sessions last 45 minutes each, followed by snacks, and then the presentation of a pair of new pajamas and a new book especially chosen for each child!

Support Pajama Program by voting for them between now and the end of the month is store. With your help they can be one of our new beneficiaries!

see you soon
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Join us in store tomorrow from 11-3 and purchase your favorite girl scouts treats. Help us celebrate the 100th year of the GIRL SCOUTS.

2012 is the Year of the Girl and Tuesday April 10th is the day to show your support and buy cookies!

see you there!
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