Kaylee started enjoying books at a very early age. Kaylee and Grandma Sharon Walden spent countless hours reading together. Kaylee’s vocabulary and intelligence grew with each book shared. A library card in hand and a large blue book bag from Auntie Patty; Kaylee and Grandma brought hundreds of books home. And their reading adventure would begin, oftentimes along with a snack and warm cup of tea to enjoy.
Kaylee was proud to know that she and Dr. Seuss shared the same birthdate, March 2nd. One of Kaylee’s favorite books was, 'Oh, the Places You’ll Go' by Dr. Seuss. It was Kaylee’s love of books that inspired her mother, Juli Walden VanCleave to create a legacy for Kaylee, and thus KK’s Readers was founded. In doing so, Juli coordinated with the local NeighborImpact Head Start program so as to make available, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’ to hundreds of young children in the Head Start pre-school classes in central Oregon.
Through the efforts of many volunteers and Head Start coordinators, on March 2, 2017 KK’s Readers presented over 425 books 'Oh, the Places’s You’ll Go' to young children in the Head Start program!
How did the name KK’s Readers come about you might ask. When Kaylee was little she couldn’t pronounce her name Kaylee, it always came out KK. And so she got the nickname KK.
As the word got out about KK’s Readers, donations of beautiful new, hardback copies of ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’ started coming in from friends, family, organizations and generous folks from all across the United States.
And so began our KK’s Readers, a program to open up the world of reading to children and to keep Kaylee’s memory alive.
Stay Kaylee Strong!
Keeping Kaylee strong into 2019. Our March 2 event this year gifted 411 books to happy young readers throughout Central Oregon!
Papa Jim, Grandma Sharon Walden, Auntie Amy, Cody, Juli and Chris VanCleave 2109