On Monday, May 16, Words Alive celebrated our spectacular 2022 Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser. After two years, we are so grateful for the opportunity to connect and to thank our sponsors, volunteers, and donors who help us change lives and communities through the power of reading during this special celebration. Words Alive was able to raise over $80,000 thanks to the generous support of those who joined us in-person and virtually! With this amazing support, we will be able not only to inspire more children, teens, and families across San Diego and Orange Counties to become life-long readers and learners, but to also address the recent critical gaps in literacy and language proficiency exacerbated during the pandemic among the youth in San Diego.
We were riveted by Chris Bohjalian’s discussion about The Lioness, which was published on May 10 and an instant New York Times Best Seller!
We’d like to give special shout-outs to our program emcee, Katy Temple (pictured left), and our book talk moderator, Dr. Seth Lerer (pictured right), for their invaluable contributions to this year’s Luncheon. We are so appreciative of Katy for energetically hosting and leading our program and for Dr. Lerer’s enthusiastic engagement on The Lioness during conversations in-person with Chris Bohjalian and with our virtual book group participants.
This event would not have been possible without the generous donations of our Luncheon sponsors: Carleton Management, Santa Monica Press, The Patricia & Christopher Weil Family Foundation, Warwick’s, and honorary hosts: Toby Eisenberg, Betina Greenberg, Kay Gurtin, Leslye and Scott Lyons, Andrea MacDonald, Vera Pitrofsky, Karen Silberman, and Mary Weatherup.
Lastly, we would like to specially thank you — whether you are a donor, table sponsor, synchronous and asynchronous attendee, a new or long-time supporter of Words Alive, your donations and dedicated volunteer work make our mission and impact possible for our community. Your support has allowed us to reach more than 4,200 children, teens, and families in the 2021-2022 school year through our family literacy workshops, weekly elementary classroom read-aloud sessions, and teen book groups. Whether you have been serving with us or are just now discovering our work and mission, we sincerely thank and celebrate you for helping us to make a difference.
To keep up with our work, be sure to follow Words Alive on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We look forward to seeing you at our Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser Celebration next year!
Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.