ECBC had a terrific afternoon yesterday at CHOC, with two of our programs going on at the same time and with such a good response. On the 5th floor (oncology/neurology), our bedside readers visited patient rooms with the Read-Aloud Wagon and read aloud with almost every available patient on the floor. We received so many more “YES”s to reading than we anticipated! And on the hospital lobby, ECBC gave away many books off our Gifting Library Cart to patients and siblings who came down for MaxLove’s Be Super Party (see photo — unfortunately we can’t share pics of patients). It has been a wonderful first four weeks since launching our program — so rewarding to see plans in action, to see books becoming part of patients hospital experience!
Tag Archives: MaxLove Project
Thank You CarterStrong Community for your Incredible Donation
Please check out Ethan’s video thanking the CarterStrong community and the CarterStrong Bucket List Book Drive for their amazing donation of 665 new books for ECBC and hospitalized kids at CHOC Children’s Hospital! ECBC is so honored to get to have a part in carrying on Carter’s legacy with this remarkable donation as well as with the special CarterStrongForever Legacy Collection that will forever be a part of the library at CHOC. The library will be CarterStrong FOREVER!! 
Ethan’s November Title Talk (and October Thank-You’s)
Here’s Ethan’s November 2017 Title Talk (#11)*, the list of books he hopes will be donated in the month of November! Please donate hardcover (for the permanent Lending Library) or paperback (for the Gifting Library) versions of these books, or any new book, from ECBC’s Amazon Wish List and help us build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Books will be sent directly to ECBC. The link to the wish list is: https://amzn.com/w/BLD7UEVPPPO.
If you want to donate a holiday-themed book for our December book give-away event or to help us create a holiday collection in our lending library, please click on this link to access that list: http://a.co/bNrSjSD.
In this video, we also thank all of our October donors. We had such an AWESOME month of book donations in the month of October, and we appreciate everyone’s support so much. We couldn’t list everyone’s name, because we had donations from approximately 200 different individuals — WOW! These donations made our Books for Treats event at CHOC such a great success, and they also started a fantastic collection of Halloween books in our Lending Library!!
Thank you so much to our donors for continuing to keep the book donations coming!
Click here for Ethan’s November Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon HOLIDAY Book Wish List.
*Ethan’s sister Maddy helped out this time, since Ethan’s wasn’t feeling good.
ECBC’s Books for Treats at CHOC Children’s was a Success!
Ethan & Choco’s Book Club LOVED handing out Halloween books to patients today as part of CHOC’s annual trick-or-treating event! This event is amazing, roughly 200 booths all over the second floor of the hospital, and ECBC was the only booth giving books! We gave away about 300 terrific books to dressed-up patients of all ages — and kids, parents, and staff seemed thrilled! Thank you MaxLove Project for being there and for handing out Dr. Johns sugar free candies!! We are so proud to be offering healthier treats! And a super thank you to Arroyo Elementary School, NLYM Tustin 2020, Once Upon a Storybook, Tod and Sharon Paris, Ashley Hemphill Netsky, Rob and Brooke Lieberman, the Stahl Family, the Adzich family, and the MANY many individual donors who made our first Books for Treats booth a success! 
Please help us collect a few more books for Ethan’s Halloween Book Drive!
Orange County – This is the LAST WEEK of Ethan’s Halloween book drive for ECBC’s Books for Treats event on Halloween at CHOC Children’s Hospital! If you haven’t donated yet, please consider donating a new Halloween book to help us get to our goal of 300 books so kids who are inpatient on Halloween can trick-or-treat for books! Ways to donate are (1) visit Once Upon a Storybook and purchase a book to add to our donation box at the store, (2) put a new book in ECBC’s large donation box by the front office at Arroyo Elementary School, and (3) visit our Halloween Book Drive wish list on Amazon at http://a.co/1o8eo3B to buy a book that is sent directly to ECBC. Thank you so much for your support!
Ethan’s Halloween Book Drive
Please help Ethan collect Halloween-themed books for kids are inpatient CHOC Children’s Hospital during Halloween! Every year CHOC holds an awesome trick-or-treating event for patients and siblings, and this year ECBC is hosting “Books for Treats” — our own booth where we will give away Halloween books! There are several ways you can help, including:
- Purchasing books off our Halloween Book Wish List on Amazon.com. Click here to access it.
- Visiting Once Upon a Storybook in Tustin, where you can purchase Halloween books to put in our donation basket at the store.
- Bring books to Arroyo Elementary to put in ECBC’s book donation box.
- Visit the Arroyo book fair and purchase/donate Halloween-themed books there.
Remember, all books must be brand new. 
Check out Ethan’s video to learn more. If you haven’t supported ECBC in a while, this is a great one to jump in on because it has special meaning to Ethan (see video) and it comes at the three year anniversary of his diagnosis.
Ethan’s September Title Talk (and August Thank-Yous)
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! In honor of Ethan and his efforts to help kids thrive through treatment by creating a reading program and library at CHOC Children’s Library, please consider donating a special book or two! In this video, Ethan mentions why childhood cancer awareness month is so important, and he provides the list of ten books that he hopes are donated in the month of September. Please consider donating! You can do so by clicking on the link to ECBC’s Amazon Wish list which sends books directly to ECBC (click here), or by visiting Once Upon a Storybook in Tustin, which collects books that customers purchase to donate to ECBC. We need hardcover (for the permanent lending library) and paperback (for the Gifting Library for kids in isolation and for give-away events) versions of every book!
Thank you all so much for your donations! We’re starting to get more books into the hands of patients, so we need the books to keep on coming!!
Click here for Ethan’s September Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.
Another Fun Super Book Give-Away at CHOC Children’s Hospital!
We had so much fun at CHOC this afternoon with MaxLove Project and Donovan’s Smile! So many patients came down today — to choose an awesome backpack filled with supplies (Donovan’s Smile), to craft a pencil case (MaxLove Project…AND to select a book to keep! We passed out about 85 books to patients and siblings, with gifted books ranging from board books for toddlers to longer chapter for middle schoolers and high schoolers. We also had children’s author @Alane Adams join us, who gave away signed copies of both her thief picture books as well as her Legends of Orkney chapter book series. A parent of a four-year-old whose son had just been diagnosed four days ago shared that they had no books in their room on the oncology floor — she seemed so genuinely grateful to receive a stack from ECBC to share with her son! We can’t wait for our next Super Book Give-Away at next month’s BeSuper party! 
ECBC’s Super Book Give-Away Was a Success!
ECBC had a terrific afternoon yesterday at our FIRST Super Book Give-Away alongside MaxLove Project at CHOC Children’s Hospital! We gave away approximately 70 books to hospitalized kids and their siblings, with our youngest recipient being 22 months and our oldest being a 14-year old boy who said he was allergic to reading but then found a book about Alcatraz that he walked away with eagerly. A CHOC nurse walked by and commented, “It is so great to see books in our lobby, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that!” And a parent of an oncology patient snuck away with a pile of books and whispered to me, “I have to home school my child now, but I always forget to bring books to the hospital. It is just never on my radar.” Both of these remarks confirm why we’re so passionate about ECBC’s mission to bring books and reading to hospitalized kids! It was so fun to put books in kids’ hands, see them reading in the lobby, and watch them walk away excitedly with a new book about a topic of interest!
Because we’re still waiting to get through CHOC’s lengthy volunteer on-boarding process in order to start “Reading Aloud in Every Room” (our bedside reading program), we are working on other ways to get books into the hands of patients NOW! We plan to join MaxLove Project regularly for their monthly BeSuper parties at CHOC, and we are working on setting up other ways to bring reading to CHOC as well (ways that don’t require volunteer approval). To be able to gift books to kids at these events, we need the new books to keep coming in — so PLEASE keep donating if you can. Here’s the link to our Wish List on Amazon — books purchased from this list will be sent directly to ECBC. 
Thank you to Kids READ!, Saddleback Educational Publishing, and PBS SoCal for providing the books for this event!
Please Donate Storytime Huxley for Kids Battling Cancer!
Please check out Ethan’s video request for donations of Storytime Huxley — a plush bear who also tells stories! As part of ECBC’s efforts to bring reading to hospitalized kids, we want to gift Huxley to kids battling cancer and other life-threatening conditions! We also hope to include him in our Read+Think+Thrive boxes for SuperKids battling cancer around the country!
Huxley can be donated easily by clicking on the link to our Amazon Wish List. Huxley, and any other book donations from this list, will be sent directly to ECBC.
Ethan loved delivering a special Read+Think+Thrive Box today!
Ethan was SO happy to drop off a Read+Think+Thrive (RTT) Box for his fellow Leukemia Warrior buddy Carter at CHOC today! After 648 days of treatment, Carter found out two weeks ago that his Leukemia relapsed — so he is now back inpatient and starting this battle all over again at Day 1. Ethan received chemo at the Outpatient Infusion Center this afternoon, and then we walked the box over to the hospital lobby to be delivered to Carter’s room (we could not personally deliver it, since Ethan is immuno-compromised and Carter is in isolation). Ethan was super proud of this box, because he got to personally curate the variety of great titles that went in it — including picture books, beginning chapter books, and a family chapter book read aloud. 
Books and reading gave Ethan more opportunities to think hard, connect with others, and travel to other worlds while he was in the hospital. What a joy it is to be able to share this with other kids!!
We’re behind you Carter! READ, THINK, AND THRIVE!!!
Carter opening the RTT Box after waking up from his spinal tap!!!
Ethan’s July Title Talk (and June Thank-Yous)
Here’s Ethan’s July 2017 Title Talk (#7), the list of books he hopes will be donated to ECBC in the month of July! Please donate hardcover (for the permanent Lending Library) or paperback (for the Gifting Library for kids in isolation) versions of these books, or any new book, from ECBC’s Amazon Wish List and help us build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Books will be sent directly to ECBC. The link to the wish list is: https://amzn.com/w/BLD7UEVPPPO
In this video, Ethan also thanks our June book donors, including those who donated books via Amazon, donations made in lieu of gifts for a child’s birthday, and our awesome local bookstore (Once Upon a Storybook) customers for their ongoing monthly donations. Thank you so much to our donors for continuing to keep the book donations coming!
Ethan also mentions his buddy Carter, a 6-year-old fellow Leukemia warrior who just received the devastating news that he has relapsed — meaning his Leukemia is back. Carter is back inpatient, beginning his battle again at day 1 (after 648 days of ongoing treatment). This (relapse) is the fear that all of us cancer parents live with daily, throughout treatment and for years beyond. Carter’s amazing community of support (called “CarterStrong”) is holding a “CarterStrong Bucket List Book Drive” to fulfill Carter’s bucket list wish (a kindergarten writing assignment) to “read lots of books this summer”. Carter is going to share the books that are collected with other kids who are currently on the oncology floor at CHOC, and the remaining books will be donated to ECBC. If you would like to donate in Carter’s honor, as a way to support Carter’s new fight, please indicate this in the gift message part of your order on Amazon. We’ll make sure the ECBC bookplate acknowledges that the donation is from you in honor of Carter!
Click here for Ethan’s July Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.
Ethan’s May 2017 Title Talk (and April Thank-You’s)
Twins Amie and Aidan give ECBC a HUGE donation of new books in honor of their birthday!!!
Here’s Ethan’s May 2017 Title Talk (#5), the list of books he hopes will be donated to ECBC in the month of May! Please donate hardcover (for the permanent Lending Library) or paperback (for the Gifting Library for kids in isolation) versions of these books, or any new book, from ECBC’s Amazon Wish List and help us build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Books will be sent directly to ECBC. The link to the wish list is: https://amzn.com/w/BLD7UEVPPPO
This awesome little Once Upon a Storybook customer is donating a book to ECBC in honor of her friend’s birthday!
In this video, Ethan also thanks all of our April book donors, including: Mrs. Stephanie Lukkes and her 2nd grade class, children’s author Salina Yoon for donating so many of her own books, 8-year-old twins Amie and Aidan for donating 138 new books rather than receiving birthday gifts, and of course Once Upon a Storybook for their ongoing monthly donations!
Click here for Ethan’s May Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.
Ethan’s Book Flash #3, Book Scavenger (by Jennifer Bertman)
Here’s Ethan’s Book Flash #3, his request for a specific title that he wants to make sure is in the library that ECBC is building at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Please check out his video and consider donating this book or any of the other books on the ECBC Wish List on Amazon (link below). Books purchased from this list will be sent directly to ECBC. Thank you!
Click HERE for Book Flash #3.
Click HERE to go to ECBC’s Wish List on Amazon.
Thank you Amie and Aidan for asking for books for ECBC instead of birthday gifts!!
All 138 books came with these bookplates, signed by each kid donor!
We just received a super awesome book donation!! Twins Amie and Aidan (from Irvine, CA) recently celebrated their 8th birthdays, and they asked for books to be donated to the hospital library that ECBC is building in lieu of gifts for themselves! We met this amazing family on Sunday when they gave us this large, super heavy box of books — 138 new, high-quality paperback and hardcover titles, mostly selected from our Amazon.com Wish List! This is definitely our most significant personal (non-institutional) donation yet! The family even used our logo to make their own ECBC book plates, personalized with the birthday kids’ names and signed by each party guest. Thank you so much Amie and Aidan for thinking of ECBC and for your generosity. We are so very honored!
Ethan’s April 2017 Title Talk (and March Thank-You’s)
Here’s Ethan’s April 2017 Title Talk (#4), the list of books he hopes will be donated to ECBC in the month of April! Please donate hardcover (for the permanent Lending Library) or paperback (for the Gifting Library for kids in isolation) versions of these books, or any new book, from ECBC’s Amazon Wish List and help us build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Books will be sent directly to ECBC. The link to the wish list is: https://amzn.com/w/BLD7UEVPPPO
Ethan with his teacher Mrs. Kelly and the box of books he just received from his class’s Scholastic book order!
Ethan with a box of fantastic books from DOGO Books!
A huge thank you to everyone who donated books in the month of March! And thank you so much to Once Upon a Storybook, Girl Scout Troop #3152, Mrs. Suzanne Tarnay Kelly and her 4th grade class, and DOGO Books for their super generous donations in the month of March!
Click here for Ethan’s April Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.
Ethan’s Book Flash #2, Save Me a Seat (by Sarah Weeks)
Here’s Ethan’s Book Flash #2, his request for a specific title that he wants to make sure is in the library that ECBC is building at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Please check out his video and consider donating this book or any of the other books on the ECBC Wish List on Amazon (link below). Books purchased from this list will be sent directly to ECBC. Thank you!
Click HERE for Book Flash #2.
Click HERE to go to ECBC’s Wish List on Amazon.
Thank you Mrs. Kelly and classmates!
Click on photo for video
Thank you to Ethan’s awesome 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Suzanne Tarnay Kelly, and his classmates for all the books you just donated to ECBC! Scholastic book orders are such a great and easy way for schools to get involved and help us build a library and reading program at CHOC Hospital!
To support ECBC through Scholastic, Mrs. Kelly stapled a brief note to the top of the Scholastic order forms asking parents to consider donating a book to ECBC as part of their order for their own kids. Parents ordered as they normally would, and then when the books arrived, kids put the books for ECBC in a box for ECBC. And, because of all the extra books that were purchased for ECBC, Mrs. Kelly earned more points to receive free books (which she chose to donate to ECBC, but teachers’ own libraries could also benefit from the extra points!).
We hope more teachers in Tustin and throughout Orange County will follow Mrs. Kelly’s lead!
Please click here to view Ethan’s thank you video.
Ethan’s March 2017 Title Talk (and February Thank-You’s)
Here’s Ethan’s March 2017 Title Talk (#3), the list of books he hopes will be donated to ECBC in the month of March! Please donate hardcover (for the permanent Lending Library) or paperback (for the Gifting Library for kids in isolation) versions of these books, or any new book, from ECBC’s Amazon Wish List and help us build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital! Books purchased off the wish list will be sent directly to ECBC.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated books in the month of February! And thank you so much to Serge Melkizian (my great buddy Andrew’s uncle), the Sherrill Family’s Super Bowl guests, and HarperCollins Publishers for your super generous donations in the month of February!
Click here for Ethan’s March Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Wish List.
Thank you Sherrill Family!
Thank you Sherrill Family for supporting ECBC at your Super Bowl Party last night! (Click here to view Ethan’s thank you video.) 
We are so honored that you made ECBC your charity of choice this year for your 50/50 raffle, and we appreciate the support so much! As we prepare to launch ECBC in the hospital this year, we need to start expanding our community of support beyond family and friends, so we’re thrilled that you shared our cause among your friends in El Segundo.
Family and friends, please share this post and other ECBC posts, and help us spread the word about our efforts to build a library at CHOC Children’s Hospital!
Click here for Ethan’s February Title Talk video.
Click here to purchase books to donate off our Amazon Wish List.