MARIO BATALI FOUNDATION OPENS NEW LAS VEGAS LIBRARY
FOR AT-RISK CHILDREN
World-Renowned Celebrity Chef Mario Batali Officially Opens New Books for Kids/Mario Batali Foundation Library, Read to Students, Along with Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Congresswoman Dina Titus
WHAT:
Today, Mario Batali opened the new Books for Kids/Mario Batali Foundation Library at the Acelero Spring Valley Learning Center.
“Libraries are important because they help children become the best they will be. They can come to a library and free themselves in a place like this. This is what is means to do something for the world around you and give unconditionally,” says Batali.
The event began with children joining Chef Batali to officially open the library—not with a traditional ribbon-cutting, but by the group opening books that read inside, “WE’RE OPEN!”
Afterward, he read “Green Eggs and Ham” to the children. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Las Vegas chefs from the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group provided special breakfast treats for attendees that included breakfast burritos with green eggs and ham.
This new library marks the third Southern Nevada library that has been funded by the Mario Batali Foundation and the 11th library it has funded nationwide. The 161-square-foot library holds nearly 1,000 books, many of which are for bilingual readers, offering an excellent range of reading material for children from one month to 12-years-old.
WHO:
The Acelero Spring Valley Learning Center serves 325 children year-round, from the ages of one month to five-years-old, with 65.6 percent of the children at the Spring Valley site living below the poverty line.
The Mario Batali Foundation partnered with Books for Kids to build the library at Spring Valley. Books for Kids is a non-profit organization promoting literacy among all children with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children. Books for Kids creates libraries, donates books and implements literacy programs to develop the critical early foundation and skills which young children need to be successful in life.
The Mario Batali Foundation strives to ensure all children are well read, well fed and well cared for. In Fall 2014, the Foundation opened their first Las Vegas library, followed by the second Las Vegas location in Summer 2015.
WHEN:
Tuesday, March 29
WHERE:
Acelero Spring Valley Learning Center
2845 Mohawk Street
Las Vegas, Nevada 89146
