Attorney General
.

Selects Soho Center
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[Background]  [Grant Activities]



Virginia's former Attorney General Mark L. Earley (recently candidate for Governor) selected the Soho Center as one of only five Virginia non-profit organizations to share a $50 million multi-state settlement reached last year with Toys `R' Us and three major toy makers.


Soho Center Director, Jeanna Beker
with Attorney General Mark Earley





Virginia's share of this settlement includes over $811,000 in toys and over $332,000 in cash.  The money will be used to purchase books and other educational materials for Virginia children. 

  From Mark L. Earley:

"I am extremely proud that our antitrust enforcement efforts have resulted in an opportunity for children throughout Virginia to receive books.  These materials will help expand their educational prospects and allow for continued mentoring and outreach efforts for Virginia's children."
  From Jeanna Beker:
"We are grateful to Attorney General Earley and his decision to name the Soho Center among those receiving funds from this national settlement.  We will use the money to buy tens of thousands of dollars worth of quality children's books which we will give away free to Virginia child care providers.  It is part of our efforts to enhance child care and promote children's literacy, school readiness, and school success all across the Commonwealth."
 
 


Jeanna Beker and Attorney General Mark Earley


Background:
This grant is part of a major national settlement announced last year worth more than $50 million in cash and toys. Virginia and other states sued Toys `R' Us, Hasbro, Little Tikes and Mattel in November 1997 alleging the companies had conspired since 1989 to withhold popular toys from low-margin warehouse clubs that undercut Toys `R' Us prices.


Jeanna Beker with WVIR-TV's Jeff Kraus


Grant Activities:
Among its other projects, the Soho Center has a long history of promoting children's literacy and distributing children's books to family child care providers in more than 50 counties and cities in the Commonwealth through its Child Care Literacy Project. 

These settlement funds from the Virginia Attorney General will allow the Soho Center to build upon and expand our children's literacy efforts.  With this grant - 
 

  • The Soho Center selected and gave away thousands of dollars worth of quality children's books to regulated child care providers state-wide to enhance child care and promote children's literacy, school readiness, and school success. 

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    Samples of books sent to child care providers state-wide


    340  packets of books ready to ship for use by 2,000 children

    • The Soho Center distributed free children's books at a major state-wide child care conference.  As part of this conference, participating providers attended a presentation on promoting children's literacy in child care settings and were invited to serve as mentors to other providers and to parents with young children. 
    • The Soho Center donated collections of quality children's books to each of the Madison County Public School's Kindergarten classes.  (In addition, the Soho Center organized supplementary educational field trips for 140 children.)

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      Field trips included  multiple story times featuring quality children's 
      books from the Soho Center's Resource Library


    • The Soho Center donated books on promoting children's literacy to every Kindergarten parent during parent-teacher conferences.
    • And the Soho Center donated quality children's books to the regional Skyline CAP Head Start program and to special needs children.   The Soho Center's Director participated in a Read-In in each of the classrooms.  In addition to the books distributed under this grant, the Soho Center also gave away new sweaters to all the Head Start and special needs children through special support from Hanna-Andersson, Inc.

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      Head Start children at story time wearing new sweaters
      from the Soho Center


    More Soon!

     


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