Mac King’s Magical Literacy Tour: Back to School 2013 Book Drive Collects More Than 1,000 Books For Kids in At-Risk Schools
Comedy-Magician Mac King Teamed Up with Las Vegas 51s and Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
To Host Book Drives in August
More than 1,000 books were collected for kids in at-risk schools during Mac King’s Magical Literacy Tour: Back to School 2013, benefiting Clark County READS, the literacy initiative of The Public Education Foundation. Comedy-Magician and Harrah’s Headliner Mac King partnered with Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Las Vegas and the Las Vegas 51s baseball team to collect books for kids in at-risk schools during book drives held in August. Those who donated three or more new or gently used children’s books received a pair of tickets to The Mac King Comedy Magic Show and special offers from the host venue.
“Since launching my literacy tour in 2011, the community has come together to collect more than 7,500 books for kids in local schools. This wouldn’t be possible without my pals at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, the Las Vegas 51s, and the many other wonderful community partners who have joined forces with Mac King’s Magical Literacy Tour throughout the years,” said Mac King. “I’m truly grateful for your support and look forward to being able to deliver the books to Las Vegas schoolchildren during Nevada Reading Week 2014.”
Each year during Nevada Reading Week, King visits students at local elementary schools to teach the importance of literacy by reading stories and performing tricks from his show. During these assemblies, King personally delivers books collected throughout the year so each child is able to take a book home with them. For many kids this is the first book they can call their own. Local businesses and organizations interested in joining forces with Mac King to host a book drive can email [email protected] for more information.
About Mac King’s Magical Literacy Tour:
Comedy-Magician Mac King has been a life-long advocate for childhood literacy and since settling down in Las Vegas, has made it his mission to promote literacy in Southern Nevada.
For years King has visited local elementary schools, spreading the importance of literacy to local students. In 2011 King decided to take his philanthropic efforts to the next level and launched Mac King’s Magical Literacy Tour, a citywide literacy initiative to foster the love of reading and rally community organizations to raise books for Las Vegas school children.
The tour kicked off during Nevada Reading Week 2011 and since then has collected more than 5,000 books by partnering with several local organizations including: Las Vegas Wranglers, Springs Preserve, and Winder Farms.
About Mac King
Now in his 14th year of headlining afternoons at Harrah’s Las Vegas, Mac King has been consistently lauded throughout his impressive run, including recently being named “Best Strip headliner” in the Las Vegas Weekly’s 2011 annual Vegas’ best awards. Las Vegas Review-Journal’s “Best of Las Vegas” readers’ pollnamed his show the “Best Bargain Show” for ten straight years (2003-2013) and deemed him “Favorite Male Las Vegan” in 2008. King has also been honored as Magic Magazine’s “Funniest Act in Magic,” the World Magic Awards’ “Best Comedy Magician” and the Magic Castle’s “Magician of the Year.”
Sought after worldwide, King has made television appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and all five of NBC’s “The World’s Greatest Magic”TV specials. King has also made several appearances at the “Just For Laughs” comedy festival in Montreal, and was a featured performer in the “Masters of Magic” series at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, Canada.
King, one of today’s brightest and most talented magicians, takes the stage twice daily, Tuesday through Saturday, at Harrah’s Las Vegas at 1 and 3 p.m. in the Showroom Theatre. Tickets are $29.95 plus tax. Additional information on The Mac King Comedy Magic Show can be found by visitingwww.mackingshow.com.
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About Clark County READS
The Clark County READS literacy initiative offers a series of programs to empower children to explore the world around them through reading. The Family Literacy Program works to combine parental involvement with the early stages of their children’s education, seeking to close educational gaps that exist. Additionally, Clark County READS has distributed more than 1 million books, updated 100 school library nonfiction collections, serves as a state model for Reading Is Fundamental and is part of the national Reach Out and Read network.
About The Public Education Foundation
The Public Education Foundation brings together business and community leaders to support smart, bold initiatives that will improve our public schools – initiatives that champion excellence and produce significant gains in student achievement. The Foundation, a nonprofit organization, empowers innovative education strategies and the best of private sector thinking. Since 1991, the Foundation has raised nearly $80 million to improve teaching and learning in Southern Nevada’s public schools. For more information about the Foundation, go to thepef.org.
About Grimaldi’s Pizzeria:
In the world of pizza, Grimaldi’s is an institution that has garnered more awards than any other pizzeria in the country with more celebrity sightings than most 5-star restaurants. Using only the freshest ingredients, a “secret recipe” pizza sauce, handmade mozzarella cheese and dough, Grimaldi’s serves traditional pizza (as it began in Naples, Italy) in an upscale yet casual, family oriented pizzeria. The intense heat of the oven evenly bakes the pies to create Grimaldi’s famous crispy and smoky thin crust that Zagat has voted best pizza year after year. Grimaldi’s Pizzeria has five locations in Las Vegas and one in Sparks, Nev. Las Vegas locations include The Shoppes at The Palazzo, Rainbow and 215, Boca Park, Fashion Village, The Fashion Show Mall and Richmar Plaza. The Sparks restaurant is located in The Legends at Sparks Marina.
For more information on Grimaldi’s Pizzeria visit www.grimaldispizzeria.com.
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Follow Grimaldi’s Pizzeria on Twitter: www.twitter.com/grimaldispizza