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Dear everyone,

In the midst of some of the most acrimonious and heated budget battles in
our nation’s history, something pretty amazing happened for America’s kids
just before Memorial Day.

On May 25th, as part of the Race to the Top initiative, *the Obama
Administration* announced $500 million in state grants for the best and most
innovative early childhood education programs. This investment will bring
the power of early childhood education to thousands of toddlers across of
America who currently aren’t enrolled in preschool.

I wrote about this fabulous achievement in *The Huffington Post:* *
http://huff.to/kUJ6m8
*
In fact, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs’ advocacy team has been fighting
for this funding since President Obama’s inauguration. Still, with 2 out of
5 kids not enrolled in any sort of preschool program in America, this
funding just isn’t enough to ensure a bright future for all our kids.

That’s why I’m thrilled that, this week, U.S. Programs will join *Senators
Robert Casey and Barbara Mikulski* on Capitol Hill to introduce legislation
that will ensure early education for every child in America.

Enactment of this legislation, though a steep climb politically, would
provide an extraordinary investment in America’s future. The Brookings
Institute estimates* *this kind of effort *could generate $2 trillion* for
our gross domestic product within a generation! I look forward to providing
a full report on this initiative next month.

U.S. Programs remains on the ground in the tornado-ravaged Southeast, where
recovery is moving forward steadily and meaningfully, thanks to your
support. We’ve served more than *6,000 kids* and their caregivers by
creating child-specific areas in community centers and ensuring emotional
and psychological support for kids who are trying to recover from the trauma
of, in some cases, dozens of lost community members.

We provided more than *350,000 diapers, as well as wipes, strollers,
portable cribs* and other essential items for the very youngest children,
thanks to donations from *Wal-Mart*. We also received *$200,000* *from* *
Toys‘R’Us* for our recovery programs.

Our efforts were further fortified by the amazing support of *Zynga*, the
world’s leading gaming company. Zynga turned on a dime to engage players
across their gaming properties, including *CityVille*,* Treasure Island *and
*YoVille*. So far, the company has *raised more than $250,000* for the
Southeast. These funds are complemented by nearly $3 million Zynga raised
for our response to the Japan earthquake.

This is truly an amazing company with a strong spirit of service. I was
proud to visit their headquarters in May to thank the staff personally.
It’s no wonder Zynga is one of the hottest technology companies in the
world. To learn more about their service initiatives, check out *Zynga.org*
.

Our work continues in the Southeast and we still need your support. If you
haven’t done so yet, please consider contributing to our disaster relief and
recovery work: *http://goo.gl/p7GxL
*
Finally, U.S. Programs was the beneficiary of the annual *Outstanding
Mothers Award* Luncheon in New York City, May 5th, which honored outstanding
moms *Susan Sarandon*, *Donna Karan*, *Senator Kirsten Gillibrand*, *Cindi
Leive* of Glamour Magazine and *Joyce Armeli* of Bon-Ton Stores. It was a
terrific event that secured significant funding for our work.

Check out this story on the event in *Womens’ Wear Daily*: *
http://goo.gl/t2YO2*

That’s all for this month and enjoy the start of summer and your Fourth of
July holiday!

Warmly,

Mark


Mark K. Shriver

Senior Vice President, US Programs

2000 L Street NW, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20036 USA

Phone: (202) 640-6627

Fax: (202) 640-6950

www.savethechildren.org/us