For the second year in a row, a book fair will be held as part of the Community Giving at MIT Campaign. This year's fair will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 10am-4pm in the lobby of the Stratton Student Center.
Books Are Fun, the direct display marketer holding the fair, will donate 10 percent of all sales to the Community Giving at MIT Campaign, which benefits the United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB), the MIT Community Service Fund and other charities. Like last year, the proceeds will be divided between UWMB and the MIT Community Service Fund. In 1999, the fair raised $510 for these two agencies.
Besides promoting reading to young and old alike, members of the community can also save money and, at the same time, help support the programs and services of these two charitable agencies.
Books Are Fun offers various categories of books at 40 to 70 percent off the retail price. They include New York Times best-sellers, children's stories and educational books; early learning books; children's gifts; cookbooks; health, wellness and happiness books and nature books. There will also be CDs, videos and photo albums.
Contributors to the Community Giving at MIT Campaign, which runs through December 29, may opt to give to the UWMB or any of its supported organizations, the Community Service Fund, any 501(c)(3) health and human services agency such as Community Works, or to another United Way branch such as the United Way of Merrimack Valley. As of November 6, a total of $18,441 had been pledged by 84 donors, including three Leadership Givers pledging at least $1,000 apiece.
MIT employees may participate by filling out the personalized pledge form they recently received in campus mail and by choosing one of the various options for giving, including the payroll deduction plan (the easiest way to give), personal check, stock and securities, or by credit card (Visa, Master-card, Discover or American Express). Everyone who makes a gift to the campaign is automatically entered into an end-of-campaign raffle for prizes donated by local merchants. Send completed pledge forms to your department solicitor, if known, or send it directly to the Campaign Headquarters in Rm 50-005. A list of appointed department solicitors can be found at the campaign's web site
Anyone with questions about the book fair or about the Community Giving at MIT Campaign may contact Elizabeth K. Mulcahy at ekm@mit.edu or Annmarie Cameron Foley acameron@mit.edu in the Community Giving Campaign Headquarters in the Office of Special Community Services, Rm 50-005, x3-7914.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 8, 2000.
