The 23rd Lunch-4-Literacy event will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, at the Oak Ridge High School food court.
This year’s author is Mike Tabor, author of the book “Walk of Death.” This is a riveting, spine-tingling tale of drugs, fraud, murder, and switched identities, a press release said.
Here is a short summary of the book:
In the spring of 1997, two rural Tennessee addicts find themselves under investigation for dealing crystal meth. Together, they concoct an ill-conceived plan to outrun the law, letting nothing stand in their way. Murder, insurance fraud and switched identities are only the beginning of a cat-and-mouse mystery that leaves an unidentified murder victim in their wake.
As the case goes unsolved, Dr. Chris Walsh, chief forensics odontologist of the Tennessee Medical Examiner’s Office, sets his sights on identifying the nameless victim and solving the gruesome crime. Fact and fiction collide in this intricate and chilling story by Tabor, a first-time author.
Culled from real case history, Tabor leads the reader on a journey that takes them from the world famous Body Farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, to the site of World Trade Center terror attacks and the identification of nearly 1,000 victims. Intrigue, drama, and edge-of-your-seat suspense help make Walk of Death an exciting and frightening read that rivals some of the best crime dramas ever published.
Please encourage your company to sponsor a table or plan on attending yourself. Individual tickets are $40. This year’s meal will again be prepared by Birdwell Catering.
Last year’s event featuring Denise Kiernan, author of the acclaimed book “The Girls of the Atomic City” raised almost $22,000 for literacy grants. Grant applications were reviewed and selected by a committee comprised of members from the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa International of Oak Ridge.
The winners of the 2014 grants were:
| Organization | Project Description | Amount Awarded 2014 |
| ADFAC | ADFAC’s School Supplies program for economically disadvantaged children. Expect to serve more that 2,600. Program in 26th year. Fill backpacks with grade-appropriate, school-specified supplies. Request will serve 100 children. | $2,500 |
| Emory Valley Center |
Partial funding for Letter People curriculum program to prepare children for Kindergarten. Curriculum emphasizes early language and literacy development through play. Will be incorporated into the EV Early Learning Center that serves children from six weeks to age five, including some children with developmental disabilities and delays. Curriculum will be applied to three- and four-year-old children. | $2,500 |
| Girls Incorporated | Continue successful and popular Girls International, an after school program, initiated in 2014 with grant funding. Program provides foreign language program in English, Spanish, and French for girls five-18 years old. Will add Sign Language, enroll more students, and purchase books for the library. | $2,500 |
| Glenwood Elementary 2nd Grade |
Build a classroom library with chapter books for students use in the classroom and at home. Children will write an opinion about the book checked out. | $- |
| Glenwood Elementary myON |
Purchase 4 iPad Air reading devices to support myOn, an online reading program that benefits some of the lowest readers. Reading Specialist works with small groups on a daily basis. The devices will be shared. 69.2 percent of students are economically disadvantaged. | $1,996 |
| Linden Elementary School | Provide e-readers with self-selected literature to struggling students. Will be distributed on last day of school in an effort to affect the “summer slide.” | $1,500 |
| Midtown Elementary School Library | Improve reading skills and develop a more positive attitude toward reading by purchasing 130 high interest/low level books for the library collection. Will target struggling struggling or reluctant readers. 60 percent of students are economically disadvantaged. | $1,800 |
| Norris Middle School |
Introduce an abundance of new, high interest, low reading level (hi-lo) books into the NMS library to provide a broader range of viable book choices for our student population reading below grade level. There are many students who read far below their middle school grade reading level, and time is of the essence for us to intervene and guide those students to some level of reading success. | $1,900 |
| Roane Imagination Library |
Provide 100 children with 1 book/month or 1200 books total. RIL is affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. | $1,200 |
| TORCH | The TORCH literacy program targets low to medium income individuals and family members seeking to improve reading, math, and science skills; ELL; and GEDs. It’s the only area program targeting individuals with one-on-one tutoring. The grant will continue to grow the program by meeting the needs of additional students. | $3,000 |
| Willow Brook Elementary |
Implement Hooked on Books for Kindergarten student in the lowest 20 percentile. Program provides books and materials to support literacy and the home-to-school connection. 100 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch. | $1,200 |
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