PLEASE NOTE: all our updates and news items are now being posted on our FaceBook page.
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Thursday 7 October 2010
We've hit 10,00 books sent!! With today's shipment of 2,348 books for Pukapuka School, Nukutere College and Titikaveka College - all schools in the Cook Islands - we've now sent 10,726 books to 19 needy schools.
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Monday 30 August 2010
Kia Orana from Tekaaroa Seventh Day Adventist School. I would like to take this opportunity to convey our sincere thanks to you and all the staff of the An Ocean Of Books.org for your great donation to Tekaaroa School. We will make use of these precious resources to cater for our children’s learning needs and to enhance their education.
Words cannot express how happy we were when we received the cartons of books. Kind Regards,
Naomi Henry. Tekaaroa Principal.
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Tuesday 3 August 2010
We have recently partnered with The American Fund For Charities who have 501(c)(3)tax exemption status, meaning doners from America can send donations to us, via The American Fund For Charities and the donation will be tax exempt.
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Monday 2 August 2010
We are happy to announce that we have picked up 277 secondary school text books and assorted resources from Auckland Girls Grammar School for delivery to Maluafou College in Apia. Further books will follow.
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Saturday 31 July 2010
We've dropped off a further 1,455 books for The Cook Islands today. Once again thanks to Red Beach School, Scholastic NZ and Reef Shipping, Mauke School, Mitiaro School, Tauhunu School and Tukao School will all be receiving some great books in the coming weeks.
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Friday 30 July 2010
We've just dropped of 1,603 books for schools in Tonga this morning. Thanks to Scholastic NZ and Red Beach School, Vava'u Side School, Taoa GPS and Pangaimotu GPS will soon have some great titles in their library.
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Friday 23 July 2010
Another great couple of days for us. Yesterday Dame Jane Seccombe donated 305 School Journals for distribution, and today Bimal of the Auckland Girls Grammar library donated another 241 titles. To top the day off Michael Jones and I were interviewed by New Zealand Pacific newspaper about the project and the support Reef Shipping are giving us.
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Tuesday 13 July 2010
What's ahead for An Ocean of Books in the coming 12 months? While our overall mission is to send enough books to see school libraries across the Central Pacific overflowing with books that capture the imagination and inspire children as they progress through school, for the next 12 months we are concentrating on the 30 most needy schools in Tonga, Samoa and The Cook Islands. We're working with the respective education departments to ensure that the books get to the right schools.
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Thursday 8 July 2010
Update Vanuatu: We have today dropped off 555 new books for shipment to St Patricks School in Vanuatu. We are happy to be working with a small Catholic group headed by Peter Taylor to get the books where they are needed. Peter's group have been doing some great work in Vanuatu for a number of years.
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Thursday 1 July 2010
Thanks again to Reef Shipping, another 1,182 books, plus school supplies, are starting their journey towards a school in need. We dropped off 27 boxes to Reef Shipping this morning for Te Kaaroa School in Aitutaki. Te Kaaroa School was decimated by a cyclone earlier this year and they are still rebuilding. In fact, because of severe damage to school buildings, the junior school is still being taught their lessons in the head mistresses home.
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Wednesday 30 June 2010
Continuing on from our update in regards to Te Kaaroa School, we would like to acknowledge Jessica Neddleman of St Heliers School who has championed Te Kaaroa's cause, and Sth Akld 7th Day who have donated both school books and teacher resources.
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Wednesday 30 June 2010
We now have a Facebook group where you can read our latest news, find out who is supporting us by running book drive and share ideas with us to help our program grow. You can find us by searching for An Ocean of Books in Facebook. Don't forget to recommend us to your contacts!
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Tuesday 29 June 2010
Today has been a fabulous day for An Ocean of Books, with two primary schools donating a total of 1,731 pre-loved books. Maungawhau School in Mt Eden donated 227 books from students in their junior school, while the school community at Whangaparaoa's Red Beach School donated a colossal 1,504 books. Combined with the books on hand from Scholastic, we will be able to send between 800 and 1,000 books each to four needy schools. All I can say is WOW!!
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Friday 25 June 2010
We are now registered with IRD as a Donee Organisation, meaning we can issue receipts that will allow donors to receive a Tax Credit.
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Wednesday 23 June 2010
We are pleased to advise that the Governments of Samoa, Tonga and The Cook Islands have confirmed that we may ship our donated books to their nations without having to pay any import tax or local version of GST. We are thankful for the officials involved who have cleared the way for our project to send books to the respective nations.
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Sunday 20 June 2010
We are pleased to announce that Ezra Schuster has joined us as an advisor. Ezra has been involved in the education sector, both domestic and international, for over a decade. Ezra has developed several educational and youth leadership initiatives, specialising in working with diverse communities. He is currently the National Pasifika Manager, Special Education with the Ministry of Education (New Zealand) and manages their Pasifika cultural training program.
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Friday 11 June 2010
A big thanks to South Auckland 7th Day Adventist School who collected 75 great books during their Book Week, along with 375 teacher's resource books. The books are earmarked for Te Kaaroa School in Aitutaki, a sister Adventist school which was badly damaged earlier this year in a cyclone.
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Tuesday 8 June 2010
Thanks to the fine work of Robyn Viljoen of Grow-Me, Red Beach School are running a book drive in late June. All it took was a quick call to Radio Live and our story was dancing across the radio waves! Robyn is a Director of Grow-me and a first class customer service trainer, so please call her if your organisation needs a customer service refresher. I can recommend Robyn's course from personal experience. You can read more about Grow-me at: www.grow-me.com
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Thursday 3 June 2010
We are pleased to announce the first official shipment of our books by Reef Shipping. Reef Shipping are freighting 684 mainly new books up to Loto Taumafai School in Samoa for us. Reef Shipping have had a relationship with the school for the past 7 years and we are pleased to help support their good work. Loto Taumafai School sits outside of the education department's umbrella and is a school for the deaf and physically challenged.
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Wednesday 2 June 2010
We are pleased to confirm that An Ocean of Books is now a registered charity. Our official Registration Number is CC44309.
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Tuesday 1 June 2010