Join Illinois Lottery in Raising a Hand for Education

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Illinois Lottery's annual volunteerism program RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS, now in its second year, is continuing its mission of empowering schools by providing books to children in public schools across the state. As schools statewide are struggling with tightening budgets, Illinois Lottery is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair at ten public schools where nearly 4,000 students will be given a coupon valued at five dollars to select a book.

To commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and his commitment to public service, RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS will launch with an Extreme Library Makeover at the Morton School of Excellence – Saturday, January 15 and Monday, January 17. The events will feature Chicago's own radio personalities, 107.5 WGCI's Tony Sculfield and V103's Ramonski Luv.  Additionally, Scholastic Book Fairs will donate a book to each child in the school for his or her school and home libraries.

Illinois Lottery's RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS Book Fairs will be hosted with the aid of volunteers in Chicago, Springfield, East St. Louis and Rockford throughout the month of February. Volunteers in each market can register at http://www.RaiseAHandIllinois.com and select a school in their local community.

"Through the RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS Book Fairs, volunteers will make a substantial difference in the lives of the students, some of whom have no other opportunity to own their own books. Books have a remarkable power of opening doors to other worlds and sparking creativity," stated Illinois Lottery Acting Superintendent, Jodie Winnett.

Volunteers will receive a limited edition RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS shirt and qualify to win great prizes in return for their generosity. For additional information on the RAISE A HAND ILLINOIS volunteer program, please visit http://www.RaiseAHandIllinois.com.  

About Illinois Lottery

Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery is a state agency with annual sales more than $2 billion. Since its inception, the Lottery has contributed more than $15 billion to the state Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools. Players must be at least 18 years old. For more information on the Illinois Lottery please visit our website at http://www.illinoislottery.com.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Book Fairs, in partnership with schools across the country, hosts more than 120,000 book-sale events each year, reaching more than 35 million children and their families in pre-school through 9th grade. Book Fairs provide students, teachers, and parents access to thousands of affordable books and educational products and are responsible for putting more than 100 million books in the hands of children, helping to foster enthusiasm for reading, and generating more than $90 million annually in fundraising for school projects and classroom materials.

SOURCE Illinois Lottery