STM was honored to be a part of The African Griot Book Fair for Children hosted by Gillette Dickens at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore on August 19, 2018. We had the pleasure of meeting many children’s books authors, eating wonderful foods, heard traditional African stories told by griot Baba-C, and listened to drumming. Lana read books to children and gave away books provided by our friends at Share Literacy HOOPOE BOOKS, Share Literacy, Books for Afghanistan, Books for Pakistan. We also vended lemonade and shave ice to raise funds for our literacy and crafting programs. It was a wonderful day!

STM was out on August 18, 2018 adding books to Little Free Libraries in Takoma Park. If you know of a LFL in need of some books please drop us a line! #kindness #littlefreelibraries

STM received lovely handmade bookmarks from our wonderful friend T. Joy on August 15, 2018. She made these by creating paper fabric and decorated it with layers and layers of torn paper, pattern tissue, netting, ribbons, stamps, paint, ink, and glitter. She then cut them into bookmarks and stitched around the edges before adding tassels. Each one is a little work of art. Thank you so much for supporting our Books for Bedtime Program!!! The kids will be thrilled!

STM was out at Universal Orlando Resort last week continuing to spread kindness by giving out as well as hiding Harry Potter buttons in the Hogwarts castle, Hogsmeade village, Diagon Alley, and the Hogwarts Express. It was so nice making new friends!

STM has been spreading some love out here in Walt Disney World by giving out as well as hiding buttons for kids to find. We’ve hit up all 4 kingdoms this past week: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Lots of happy smiles!!! Stay tuned for next week’s adventure!

STM was honored to play a small part at the graduation of the PreK Vision (blind/visually impaired students) on August 5, 2018 by providing these young graduates with handmade stoles and buttons. Lana designed and sewed 9 pint-sized graduation stoles for them over the course of 2 weeks as well as made buttons. Each button was customized with the student’s name in their favorite color. They were also made with easy to read lettering and high contrast to help the students visualize the words. Their teacher Diana García-Mejia will be adding Braille dots over the tops. Congratulations and best of luck to our little friends!

STM had a great time vending lemonade and Hawaiian shave ice at the Takoma Park Farmers Market on Sunday, July 29, 2018. Our thanks to our kind friends at Nasdaq #goodworks who came out to help us today: Victoria Lacuesta and son Joe and volunteer coordinator Tanya Smigocki. It was another beautiful day at the market…lots of lovely people, fresh fruits and vegetables, music!, and the unveiling of our STM banner! Those smiles say it all! See you next time!

On July 21, 2018 STM came out to serve our famous shave ice at a Taekwondo birthday party. This is one of the many ways that STM raises money to purchase supplies and books. In additon to bringing our Hawaiian shave ice service to your next event, we also host charity crafting parties where we make crafts together that are donated to the charity of your choice. Please keep us in mind for your next get together.

STM spent a delightful evening sharing our Books for Bedtime Program with the children at Takoma Park Maryland Library on July 16, 2018. It was a wonderful night! Lana read to some children while others read quietly by themselves or had a parent or guardian read to them at this D.E.A.R. event. Each child was invited to take a book home to keep for their personal library at home. Our thanks to Karen MacPherson for inviting us to share our nonprofit program and to the kind Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library who supplied snacks and drinks for everyone.