— Maryland Business Provides Funding to Purchase Bears —
March 24, 2006 – GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND. On March 30, 2006 at 2:00 p.m., Mrs. Denise Fitzgibbons’ 5th grade class at Stedwick Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland will hold a send-off celebration of its “Books and Bears” program to benefit the children in Children’s Hospital. The program provides books to help the young hospital patients learn as well as pass their time, and teddy bears so that the children have a new friend to keep them company. The books and bears are given to the children at the hospital by Children’s Hospital’s Volunteer Services, each with a tag that reads, “Books and Bears Because We Care…From the Children of Stedwick Elementary.” The program was created in 2004 by Mrs. Fitzgibbons’ class, and made possible through donations from Maryland businesses.
“In addition to providing the kids at Children’s with books to help pass the time, bears to help keep them company – and hopefully a smile – the program teaches the children at Stedwick Elementary a powerful lesson in selflessness,” stated Denise Fitzgibbons, the program’s founder. “It helps them gain life perspective and realize that they can make a difference in someone else’s life by giving.”
To help give the program a jump-start in 2004, Mrs. Fitzgibbons turned to a friend who co-owns a Maryland home improvement business, S&K Roofing, Siding and Windows. S&K donated $1500 in 2004, and this year increased their donation to $2000. In 2004, the school-wide book drive was a huge success and more than 1,000 new books were donated from the children and teachers at Stedwick, and members of the community. This year Stedwick Elementary purchased 35 teddy bears, collected over 1,000 new books, and will be donating a check for almost $1,900 to the Children’s Toy Closet at Children’s Hospital.
The “Books and Bears” will be presented to representatives from Children’s Hospital on Thursday, March 30th at 2:00 p.m. at the Books and Bears Send-Off Celebration at Stedwick Elementary. For more information on how you can help the Books & Bears program, please contact Mrs. Fitzgibbons at Stedwick Elementary School (866) 836-7663.
Stedwick Elementary School is located in the Watkins Mill Cluster of Montgomery Village in Gaithersburg Maryland. We have been providing quality public school education to children in Montgomery County since 1975.
S&K Roofing, Siding and Windows is Maryland’s trusted leader in roofing and maintenance-free home exteriors. Headquartered at 5399 Enterprise Street, Eldersburg, Maryland, S&K Roofing, Siding and Windows serves Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery counties. For more information, call (866) 836-7663, or visit www.SKRoofing.com.
