Re: Local Author Donates 400 Books To Students

New Orleans, Louisiana (May 18, 2012) – As the school year comes to an end, students at three local schools will receive a big surprise before the start of summer!

The Big Wanda Book Give Away, sponsored by Team Happy Foundation, Big Easy Kiwanis Club and Royal Engineering, will donate a total of 400 Big Wanda books to students at three local elementary schools.

The Adventures of Happy & Big Wanda, written by Happy Johnson and illustrated by Joe Badon, teaches youth how to prepare for the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which starts June 1 and ends November 30.

The Big Wanda Book Give Away will serve as a catalyst for students to discuss the importance of making a disaster plan with family, teachers and friends. When students are equipped with basic first aid skills and emergency communication methods, they help make their household safer and better prepared.

The Big Wanda books will be awarded to individual students to take home. THF has worked closely with the below mentioned schools throughout the 2011/2012 academic year.

Give Away Dates:
Monday May 21, 10:30AM: McDonogh #32 Literacy Academy will receive 200 books;
Tuesday May 22, 1:00PM: Milestone Sabis Academy will receive 160 books;
Monday June 18, time TBD: North Rampart Community Center Summer School will receive 40 books.

Book:
The Adventures of Happy & Big Wanda (ages 6-10) is a fictional picture book about a teen who plays the trumpet for his high school marching band. The main character also drives Big Wanda – the name of a rusty old pick-up truck fueled by vegetable oil. Driving to a snowball stand before the start of a storm, Happy & Big Wanda’s perennial preparedness enable them to help their neighbors in need with disaster supplies made from recycled material.

The interactive book also includes a hurricane preparedness checklist, word search, fill-in-the-blank, coloring pages and safety pledge.

Author:
Following Hurricane Katrina, Happy Johnson drove an Emergency Response Vehicle with the K44 Disaster Relief Unit of the American Red Cross Chapter of Southeast Louisiana.

At the conclusion of his service as a first responder in 2005, Johnson founded an NGO which provided more than 10,000 volunteer hours of direct service to help rebuild homes, schools and parks. The displacement of children recalled Johnson’s journey in foster care, fueling his desire to help renew the “Soul of America” for future generations. Foster children in New Orleans increased 50% after Hurricane Katrina (USA Today).

Johnson is President of Team Happy Foundation (THF), which creates children’s books and innovative educational resources about disaster preparedness and coastal restoration. He is the author of Big Wanda and co-host of GoNOLA TV. TIME Magazine selected Johnson to be featured in the high school history textbook: Civics Today. A former White House intern, he has a B.A. from Georgetown University. In December 2012, THF will celebrate 7 years of community engagement, education and development.

 
To purchase the book, visit: www.TeamHappy.org
Media Contact: JenellNicole@gmail.com, Cell: (504)315-5084

Youth Preparedness Campaign SCHEDULE
2011
Wednesday March 16:
Joseph A.Craig Elementary School, 200 Students
Tuesday March 29:
Phillis Wheatley Elementary School (MIAMI, FL), 50 Students
Friday April 1:
Lafayette Academy, 200 Students
Friday April 8:
Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy, 100 Students
Thursday April 14:
St. Andrews Episcopal School, 100 Students
Sunday April 17:
Earth Day Fest & Green Expo Book Signing
Thursday April 21:
Brilliance Academy (DALLAS, TX), 50 Students
Thursday May 5:
McDonogh City Park Academy, 100 Students
Friday May 6: Holy Name of Jesus, 50 Students
Saturday May 7: The Spanish Moon Baton Rouge
Friday May 13: McMillians Child Care Center, 50 Students
Saturday May 14: Spruce NOLA Eco-Studio
Thursday May 19:
Hume Child Development Center, 25 Students
Friday June 3: Official Book Launch
Monday June 6:
Zephyrs Baseball Stadium – First Pitch Honor
Wednesday June 15:
Kedila Camp of Benjamin Banneker, 25 Students
Thursday June 16:
Henry C. Schaumburg Elementary, 100 Students
Friday June 24:
Job Corps Medical Technician Class, 25 Students
Tuesday July 5:
John Dibert Elementary School, 25 Students
Wednesday July 20:
Kidopolis/Tulane Child Development Center, 25 Students
Wednesday July 27:
Job Corps Career Center Ceremony, 100 Students
Saturday Aug. 20:
Key Club of Thomas Jefferson High School, 100 Students
Wednesday Aug. 24:
Ben Franklin Elementary School, 75 Students
Thursday Aug. 25:
Resurrection Catholic (PASCAGOULA, MS), 250 Students
Wednesday Sept. 7:
Algiers Economic Development Foundation
Thursday Sept. 15:
Denver Place Elementary (WILMINGTON, OH), 150 Students
Wednesday Sept. 21:
Dr. MLK Charter for Science & Technology, 250 Students
Friday Sept. 30: FEMA Youth Preparedness Summit
Monday October 3: St. Paul’s Episcopal, 125 Students
Thursday October 20:
SciTech Academy at Laurel Elementary, 25 Students
Friday November 4: Milestone SABIS Academy, 50 Students
Friday December 16: Louisiana Green Corps, 15 Students

2012
Friday January 13: Miller-McCoy Elementary, 25 Students
Friday January 27:
Spectrum Elementary (PHX, AZ), 100 Students
Thursday February 9:
Milestone SABIS Academy, 300 Students
Friday February 24:
Strong John Thomson Elementary (DC), 50 Students
Friday March 23: LA State Citizen Corps Conference
Thursday April 19: McDonogh 32, 50 Students

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Empowering People & Communities
Coastal restoration, job creation, affordable health care, sustainable fisheries and the Clean Water Act remain critical concerns throughout the Gulf Coast region. These topics and more we delve into during an interview with Sen. Bob Graham (Ret.), Co-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Restoration of the Gulf Coast from the BP Oil Spill is far from complete.
But on 2 December 2010, Retired Adm. Thad Allen provided perspective for the complex disaster-response challenges ahead. The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute hosted him in New Orleans for a discussion titled: “Managing The Unknown.” It was a thoroughly impressive analysis of his experience which has spanned 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, BP Gulf Oil Spill and the Haiti Earthquake.

Adm. Allen discussed several of his thoughts for restructuring the way in which government and the public plan, respond and sustain disaster recovery.

During the summer of 2010 we had an opportunity to volunteer with the Gulf Response Involvement Team (GRIT) in an effort to protect sections of our barriers islands in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Several NGOs, including the Barataria-Terrebone National Estuary Program, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Audubon Institute, National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservatory coalesced to clean-up the dunes in anticipation of oil landfall in Lafourche Parish.

About #50 volunteers from all across the state were briefed on the impact of this national disaster. Primarily, we raked organic and non-organic debris from the shoreline, moving it far beyond the high tide line. Natural debris was removed, bagged and disposed of in an environmentally secure manner. These preventative measures were completed in order to mitigate the potentially hazardous impact of oil reaching this coastline.

This is a clarion call for us to re-examine the way in which we consume and waste our natural resources. Louisiana is a traditional energy intensive state – both in terms of consumption and production. It is my hope that this will focus our attention on ways we can become a more intensive energy-efficient state. Meaning that we utilize and invest in technologies that reduce our consumption of harmful gas and increase our usage of clean energy.

There are a number of ways you can make a difference in the fishing communities devastated by this disaster and help protect our coastline and estuaries. Please take a moment to help. For example, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana leads restoration plantings; click here to register for upcoming volunteer opportunities.