Gannon University! The university since 1994 through the interest and support of Dr. Antoine Garibaldi, President, and Dr. Donna Dalton, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, has given HOB! the use of office space, work study assistance, phone, office supplies, printing, artistic talent, postage.

Next, we say a big thank you to our Captains. Our captains are those great folks who recruit our readers. And a great job they do. They are another vital link in the service that HOB!offers.

And of course the next thanks goes to our readers who often make friends with the youngsters they read to and always share their love of books.

Our Board Members can’t be missed in the list of thank you messages. This group does so many jobs for Hooked on Books!

Then there are many others whose belief in Hooked On Books! is expressed in many different ways and who have earned a BIG THANK YOU:

Thank you to Ed Babowicz, who has been a wonderful photographer, taking photos of the summer program for our publications.

And another thank you to Ed Babowicz for his wonderful donation of more than 200 excellent detective novels which we’ve used as incentives to help fund-raise. This collection consists of books collected for use in Gannon classes on the detective novel, taught by Ed previous to his retirement.

Thank you to Kitty Harrington, from the Children’s Department of the Erie County Library, who has faithfully, knowledgably, and like all good teachers, entertainingly, helped train and orient readers year after year with lively instructions about how to read to youngsters. Kitty has been doing this job since Hooked On Books! began, ten years ago.

Many thanks to Deb Peffer, Eric Grignol, and Kelly Matczak whose artistic abilities have shone in the designs of the Hooked On Books! Christmas card magazines and other publications.

Thank you also to Debbie Pelinski who has helped transform the text and artwork for these publications to lovely pieces that our friends can read, and to Cindy Benovic, who has seen to it that these works move quickly into the hands of those friends.

Thanks to Maryann Fischer whose smiling face has supervised readers and kids for many years and who always makes everyone feel welcome.

Thanks to one of our newest benefactors, Oto Hlincik, whose skills and knowledge make this website possible.

Thanks to Ray Luniewski, of Gannon’s Maintenance Staff, for the photo display board and for design and construction of the Hooked On Books! boat. His work always evinces the work of a master craftsman.

Another very big thanks to Gannon’s stalwart and dependable all around person, Joe Luckey, who has helped in so many ways over the years that it’s stunning to think of. He gets a very big thanks. Joe’s most visible contribution perhaps is the construction of the Hooked On Book! Boat. The boat, with the same design as the HOB! logo, has been a most popular item with youngsters and a big help with publicity for the group. But Joe’s help has often been beyond the call of duty and extends to aspects of the “behind the scenes” HOB!

Thanks to Bobbie Gelnett, a recent Gannon graduate who helps keep Dolores home and office computers running smoothly and corrects problems which sometimes threaten to prohibit the operations of programs vital to scheduling volunteers.

Thanks too to Brenda Weaver, who after working a full day outside the city of Erie, drives home to Harborcreek and then to the Hooked on Books office to work there from 6 p.m to 9:30 p.m. twice a week.

And last on the list right now, but definitely not least, is Patty Howard, who for years kept our cumulative records of readers before we had the computer program which makes that job somewhat easier.

The Hooked on Books! Program assisted by the Kiwanis Club of Erie, and the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority of Gannon University celebrated Dr. Seuss’ 100th birthday by reading his books to the children in the CHAMPS Program at Harding Elementary School on February 25, 2004.

Using the model the Hooked on Books! Program designed 13 years ago, the adult “reading pals” were paired with one child each. They first shared a Dr. Seuss book and then read other books. The books were then presented to the children to take home to add to their personal library. All these books had a personalized bookplate designed for the occasion and autographed for the children by their readers.

The celebration was concluded with a Dr. Seuss birthday party hosted by Kathleen Green and Mimi Fiorelli, site supervisors of the CHAMPS Program and Patty Zielewski, reading specialist at Harding Elementary School.

The adult readers included Dr. Dolores J. Sarafinski, Founder and Director of Hooked on Books!; Rebecca Martin, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the School District of the City of Erie; June Smith, Board Member of Hooked on Books; Lita Schaaf and Marianne Fisher, “reading pals” of the Hooked on Books! Program; Adam Trott, President of Kiwanis Club of Erie; Janice Locke, Kiwanis Club of Erie and members of the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority of Gannon University: Angela Canovali, Emily Specht, Mary Gelnett, Kristen Antinopoulos, Julie Coppolo, Katie Bemis, Christie Buchleitner, Lauren Bolender, and Danielle Sterbank. The Dr. Seuss Celebration brought together three groups of community members eager to encourage a love of reading in young children.

For the first time ever, PARADE Magazine and the NFL partnered to honor outstanding volunteers across the country with the Community Quarterback Award. Funded by NFL Charities, the PARADE/NFL Community Quarterback Award recognizes community and youth volunteers who demonstrate leadership, dedication and a commitment to bettering their communities.

Laura Schaaf, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader and Literacy Consultant for the Northwest Tri County Intermediate Unit nominated Dr. Dolores Sarafinski, retired Gannon English professor and Founder of Hooked on Books!. Dr. Sarafinski was selected as one of the top ten finalists for the award. The Pittsburgh Steelers donated $1,000 in her honor to Hooked on Books! The mission of Hooked on Books! is to instill knowledge and love of books in children whose circumstances may offer little opportunity to gain this knowledge and love otherwise by pairing up each child with a reading pal on a daily basis.

"I nominated Dr. Sarafinski because she makes an incredible contribution to our inner city children", said Schaaf. " She still remembers the joy of being read to by her father. She wants to bring that joy to others." Sarafinski founded Hooked on Books! in 1991 starting at St. Mary's Grade School. Betty Seigley and some fellow bridge club members along with students from Delta Kappa Gamma, served as some of the first reading pals. In 1994, Hooked on Books! started performing its magic at the Inner City Neighborhood Art House. Since then, over 2,500 readers have been reading to about 500 children each year. "This has really become her life's work and it makes a difference to the children of our community," Schaaf continued. "She organizes more than 100 reading pals each semester and 300 readers each summer. And she is always working a crowd-looking for more readers."

"Any recognition of me and Hooked on Books! is really recognition of the efforts of members of our board and the hundreds of caring readers who so generously come weekly to share their love of reading with our children, "remarked Sarafinski. "When we hear of the high poverty rate among the children we serve, our presence at the Art House affirms our belief that there is a way out of poverty. It can start with a book. As a caring person opens a book with a child, he or she can be taking the first step in changing the life of that child."

NFL Charities, created in 1973, is a non-profit organization that allows NFL clubs and players to collectively make grants to charitable and worthwhile causes on the national level. Since its inception, NFL Charities has made more than $45 million in grant commitments to more than 250 different organizations.

PARADE/NFL Community Quarterback Nomination

Ninety-million Americans lack basic literacy skills. The average middle class child has been exposed to about 1,700 hours of one-on-one reading. The average child growing up in poverty has been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading. So how does one woman begin to break this cycle of illiteracy and poverty in her community? She does it from a basement office, with nothing but a work study student and the backs of scrap paper in her printer, while getting around on an electric scooter because she is unable to walk. And she does it with more than 2,500 volunteer readers.

Since January 1991 Dr. Sarafinski has been "hooking" more than 500 inner-city children on reading by providing volunteer readers from the Erie, PA area to read to these children on a one-to-one basis. Hooked on Books! is an organization of committed adults, spearheaded by Dr. Sarafinski, whose mission is to instill knowledge and love of books in children whose circumstances may offer little opportunity to gain this knowledge and love otherwise.

With 16, 714 children living in poverty in Erie County 33.2% of our children are at risk of joining the millions of illiterate Americans. Dr. Sarafinski and her army of volunteer readers combat this problem with books and dedication on a daily basis. That army consists of more than 100 college students and retirees during each school year and an average of 75 professional men and women daily for five weeks each summer. Summer readers come from 40 businesses; include eight judges, two college presidents, one Congressman, two State Legislatures, a County Executive and countless doctors, lawyers, mothers, fathers and friends.

Hooked on Books! performs its magic at The Neighborhood Art House. The intent of The Art House is to provide inner city children with free lessons in the arts. This mission fits with Hooked on Books! to help young children grow academically and socially. However, not all children who could benefit from these programs are able to get to The Art House. It is a dream of Dr. Sarafinski's to expand Hooked on Books! to other neighborhoods so that all children in the City of Erie can benefit from the one-to one reading that is at the heart of Hooked on Books!

Dr. Sarafinski's tireless efforts on behalf of our inner-city children have been recognized in dramatic ways. In May 1999, Dr. Sarafinski was recognized by the Points of Light Foundation. "Points of Light are the Soul of America," said President George W. Bush. "They are ordinary people who reach beyond themselves to the lives of those in need, bringing hope and opportunity." In April 1990 Dr. Sarafinski was presented Distinguished Faculty Award from Gannon University. She was a Woman of the Year Finalist in 1998 and the American Association of University Women-Erie branch, named her their Woman of the Year in 2001. The Mercy Center for Woman named her one of 2002's "Dynamic Dozen" for her notable achievements on behalf of inner city children.

You know you have something when a child, who went through the program and now attends the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, comes back as a reader. That is making an impact on a life. That is breaking the cycle of illiteracy. And that is what books and volunteers and one woman can do to combat poverty in her community. I urge you to consider Dr. Sarafinski, retired English professor at Gannon University and founder of Hooked on Books! as a Parade/NFL Community Quarterback. As then First Lady of Pennsylvania, Michelle Ridge said in August 1999 while honoring Dr. Sarafinski, "By helping children, by getting them hooked on books, you are helping families... We know that children's literacy levels are strongly tied to the literacy levels of their parents. You are going to touch the generation that comes after each child you read to." Help Dr. Sarafinski continue her work while impacting generations to come in Erie Pennsylvania.

Dr. Dolores Sarafinski was honored Monday, August 30, 1999, at the Neighborhood Art House in recognition of creating Hooked on Books!, a program in which adults volunteer to read to inner city children between the ages of 7-14. The program's original setting was St. Mary's School, but when St. Mary's closed, Dr. Sarafinski was not willing to let Hooked on Books! come to an end. When the Neighborhood Art House was founded in 1994 by the Benedictine Sisters who wanted to create an "oasis" for the inner city children of Erie, Hooked on Books! had a new home.

The intent of the Art House was to provide inner city children with free lessons in art, music, writing, flower arranging, kung fu and pottery to help them develop a sense of value for fine arts, and help them develop group and living skills needed for life. The Art House is an ideal setting for Hooked on Books! because the purpose for Hooked on Books! is not simply to help children with reading, but to help young students grow academically and socially by motivating them to learn and read independently.

Since 1994, when Hooked on Books! was introduced to the Art House, the program has grown rapidly. During the time Hooked on Books! has been offered at the Art House there have been more than 850 different volunteer readers.

There is so much positive energy surrounding Hooked on Books! that it continues to draw in more volunteers and children -- and it keeps them coming back. Where does this energy come from? What inspires volunteers to return time after ti me?

Anna Fannin, a volunteer reader and Gannon student, said, "I thought I didn't have enough time to volunteer and decided to read for one week, but after the first day I was hooked on the children as much as they were hooked on the books, and continued reading until the summer program ended. Many of us know we feel good about helping others, but this experience was more than that." She then added, "The feeling you gain from taking the time to talk to a young person and share a storybook is truly one we all should experience."

Michelle Ridge, the First Lady of Pennsylvania, spoke at the award reception for Dr. Sarafinski and said, "At this wonderful Neighborhood Art House, you unlock a tremendous treasure for all of the children who participate." She then noted an aspect of Hooked on Books! that many people may not see. "By helping children, and getting them hooked on books, you are helping families...Every child you help isn't just that child you help, but it is also the next generation of children, because we know that children's literacy levels are strongly tied to the literacy levels of their mothers...You are going to touch the generations that come after that child."

Dr. Thomas Ostrowski, Provost and Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs at Gannon, spoke of Dr. Sarafinski's years as a member of the English department at Gannon, and how he feared that the Writing Center and the Writing Across the Curriculum program would not be the same without her.

He said, "In some ways they aren't the same, but the genius of Dolores Sarafinski is that what she creates lives and thrives beyond her involvement." It is obvious that Dr. Sarafinski has created a thriving success with Hooked on Books!

Over the years Hooked on Books! has grown in leaps and bounds. Had it not been for Dr. Dolores Sarafinski's originality, and for the energy she continuously put into Hooked on Books!, it would not be the program it is today.