Due to the short timespan to prepare for this fundraiser and the opportunity to collaborate with other local groups, the Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser will not be happening this Saturday, April 5, but will instead be postponed until a later date.  Please continue to collect donations if you would like to participate, or contact us if you would like to sponsor a bowler.

For more information about the bowl-a-thon and for information and donation forms, please see http://pagestoprisoners.org/node/68

Thanks,
Geoff Hing
The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project

From an article in the Indiana Daily Student:

There are 272 people living in the Monroe County jail, which is only meant to hold 200 people. About 70 people sleep on the floor each night.

With this many people filling the jail, Monroe County could face a federal lawsuit because of its lack of compliance with state and federal laws that state all inmates must have their own beds. The sheriff’s department and others want to build a new jail while some in the community think that there are better options.

...

 Mark Stoops, who is also running for county commissioner, believes that a new jail is not the best option.

“The current jail is not in good shape, but when it’s broken down, we can’t afford a new jail,” Stoops said. “If we build a new jail of the capacity of 450, we will fill it fairly quickly. We will have to pay for food and medical expenses and we can’t afford the people we have now.”

Stoops thinks the solution is to work on keeping the jail population down. Besides having a lot of probation violators in jail, people who can’t pay their $500 cash bond must also stay in jail, Stoops said.

“It seems (it) would be better to use the money for a new jail instead to keep the jail population down,” Stoops said. “Use that money for an intensive treatment center to turn people around or for kids and juvenile offenders so when they get older they can hopefully turn their lives around.”

Criminal Justice Candidate Forum
Saturday, April 5
1:30-3:30pm
Monroe County Public Library Room 1B

If you're looking for something to do before the Bowl-A-Thon, Citizens for Effective Justice has organized a candidate forum featuring a variety of candidates for local government positions discussing their positions on criminal justice issues.  This should be an informative event, especially since new jail construction and conditions in the current jail seem to be hot topics of  conversation around Bloomington.

The Rock N' Roll Prom is the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project's biggest fundraiser every year. Not only is it a fun and festive event that involves cover bands and wild fashion, it also helps provide the funding for postage to send free books to people in prisons and jails throughout the Midwest and to purchase the books that we send.

You can help us out by attending the prom, but also by helping to promote it.

Download a printable flyer to hang around Bloomington.

Display a banner on your blog, MySpace, or Facebook page. Just oppy and paste this code to your profile or theme:

<p><a href="http://www.boxcarbooks.org/"><img src="http://blogs.terrorware.com/geoff/files/2008/03/prom-webscaled.jpg" style="border: 0pt none ;" /></a></p>

The Sentencing Project has published a guide to the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice. This guide provides information on a range of key criminal justice issues, including sentencing policy, reentry, felony disenfranchisement, and the death penalty. 

Who: You,our valued volunteer
What:Bowling to raise money for Pages to Prisoners
Where: Indiana Memorial Union Bowling Alley – The Back Alley
When: Saturday April 5, 2008 3pm POSTPONED (but start collecting right away)
Why: Unfortunately,money makes the world go round and also decides whether packages get sent,dictionaries and packing supplies get purchased, etc

Hello Pages Volunteers and Supporters,

It's time for one of our big annual fundraisers, the Bowl-A-Thon! For those of you who are not familiar with the concept from past years, it's pretty simple - volunteers and supporters get friends, coworkers, family members and anyone in their social network to sponsor them to bowl a few games with the proceeds going to Pages. People often sponsor someone per point, so the better you bowl, the more money you raise to purchase books or send packages for Pages! Of course, people can make a flat rate donation as well.

Here are 3 documents for you to use:

• a flyer to post around your neighborhood or workplace
• a donation sheet to record your sponsors/donors
• a letter that you can copy that explains the work we do and the fundraiser.

A few important things to remember:

1. All pledges above $10 are tax deductible. If the donor would their donation to be tax deductible, please write down their full name and mailing address on your pledge sheet and mark the tax letter column. Once we have your pledge sheet and money we will send a tax deduction form directly to the donor.
2. There is no minimum pledge. If people cannot donate money but still want to help out, suggest that they donate their time by volunteering, donating books, or packing supplies such as old envelopes.
3. People can donate in two ways: 1) per point. If someone pledges 10 cents a point and your final score is 76 they will owe $7.60; 2) flat rate. Anyone is welcome to give us $10 (or any amount) despite your score.

Please make sure all your pledges (money and sheet) are mailed to or dropped off at Boxcar Books, or turned in to Abbey, Anita, or Geoff

The fundraiser is coming soon, but try to get as many donations as possible. Remember, every little bit helps. If you only raise $15, that's still 5 packages out the door!

If you have any questions, write mwpp@pagestoprisoners.org or call Geoff at 812.856.1188.

Take care,
The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project