Ethan & Choco's Book Club

Striving to make access to books and reading a core part of the care that SuperKids receive in the hospital, with the principal premise that literacy support for children fighting cancer and other life-threatening conditions can help promote cognitive development and social connections that are part of thriving through treatment and beyond

Tag Archives: BOOK IT


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BOOK IT, ECBC’s Annual Charity Run, Is Back!

We’re excited to announce that BOOK IT is finally back as an in-person charity walk/run, after a 4 year hiatus!  Currently, ECBC is giving away 500+ new books monthly to patients atCHOC Children’s Hospital (largely to oncology warriors and other kids battling life-altering illness), and our volunteers are reading aloud at patients’ bedside. Please join us in Irvine on the morning of Sept 4, and help us to sustain our book and reading programs at CHOC! You can register quickly by clicking the graphic below, and enter BOOKIT2023_earlyreg20 for an early registration discount of 20% per registrant.  Also please consider creating a walking/running team and recruit others to join your team (works great for friends/family, sports teams, corporate team…any group!). 

Click above to access registration site.

We also are looking for sponsors at most levels including Title Sponsor. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, click on the “become a sponsor” tab on the BOOK IT registration site, or email ali@ECbookclub for more information.

This year’s BOOK IT will feature:

  • 1K Fun Run and 5K Walk/Run
  • Race warm-up led by PaKua Master David Clawson and CHOC mascot CHOCO
  • T-shirt, medal, and electronic timing results
  • Book character costume contest with prizes
  • On-site booksellers + book drive, with raffle for donating a book
  • Other literary-themed activities

Thank you for helping ECBC to help Orange County’s hospitalized kids thrive with books and reading. We hope to see you on September 4 at the start line!   

Please share this post, or the link to the BOOK IT registration site (https://runsignup.com/BOOKIT2023) if you can!


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THANK YOU BOOK IT 2022 SUPPORTERS!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who supported ECBC’s BOOK IT 2022 Virtual Run and Book Drive by “running” 5, donating 5, creating a fundraising team, and/or sharing on social media. Together, 123 donors raised $25,000. While this is only half of our fundraising goal, we knew this goal was ambitious yet hopeful, reflecting the increased costs of our growing book and reading programs at CHOC Children’s Hospital. The BOOK IT donation site is still up and open for donations if you haven’t had a chance to contribute (runsignup.com/BOOKIT2022), though there will be no more explicit monetary pushes for BOOK IT until 2023. We will immediately be turning to outreach for our Halloween book drive (for which we need approximately 600 new books), and we are hopeful that a strong response in the form of direct book donations will minimize book purchases and thus the cash output towards our Halloween event. 

I would like to extend a super special thank you to our top donors and fundraising teams. Thank you to our top fundraisers Mary Kay Viscounty, Susie Alexander, and Dr. Van Huynh (as well as ECBC Co-Founder Ethan)… We are so grateful for your personal efforts to rally others behind our cause. A tremendous thank you also to our top individual “$500 and above” donors: Tod and Sharon Paris, Keith and Katherine Dunleavy, Kevin Kodzis, CHOC Hyundai Cancer Institute, Sur West Homes, Shameeron Paur, Rob and Brooke Lieberman, Molly Cronin, Tootie Nienow, Erin and Jeff Denes, Susie Alexander, Tracy and Jeremy Stahl, the Antonius family, and an ongoing ECBC friend and advocate who wishes to remain anonymous but deserves mention being our very top donor (this year and every year prior!). Together, this mighty group was vital to the success of this campaign, having contributed more than 60% of the total funds raised. Finally, a special shout out to Jack Carlisle/The Potting Shed and Fenny Kokenge/Fenny’s Flowers as well as Dori Renn/Cirkel Fitness for hosting your own events in the community (Houseplants 101, DIY succulents, yoga class) to raise awareness and funds for BOOK IT! And of course, thank you to the ECBC Board of Directors for all their efforts and commitment to keep ECBC going.

Thank you everyone for supporting ECBC during this especially difficult time to be a super tiny nonprofit. Your donations allow ECBC to keep helping hospitalized kids to thrive through treatment with books and reading — which is a powerful contributor to cognitive health and thus general wellness and thrivership. 

Please stay connected with ECBC by following us on our website (ethanandchocosbookclub.com) or on Facebook/Instagram (@ethanandchocosbookclub). And save the date for BOOKIT 2023, hopefully in-person — Monday, September 4. 

With deepest gratitude,

Ali, Ethan and the ECBC Team

* Please know that 100% of funds and books raised go to ECBC operating and program costs — ECBC has no employees and I take no salary.

Click image above for donation site.