Capital One Bank and The Heart of America Foundation Invite Consumers to Vote Online for Their Favorite Children’s Book Titles

Capital One Bank will donate the books with the most votes to students and schools in need

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--What was your favorite book as a child? Whether it was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Green Eggs and Ham, or Corduroy, many of us have fond memories of our favorite children’s books. To help ensure that more children have access to quality books, Capital One Bank, in partnership with The Heart of America Foundation®, has launched Book by Book, a digital campaign that aims to put the most beloved children’s book titles into the hands of more kids.

“Literacy is one of the most important issues of our time and a strong measure of an individual’s future success in school, career and life”

The Book by Book campaign runs from October 15 through November 15, 2012. During that time, book lovers everywhere can help decide which titles will be donated to local students and schools by voting for their favorites on the Book by Book web site. For every “like” Capital One receives on its Investing for Good Facebook page during the campaign, Capital One will donate a book to a child or library in need, up to 50,000 books.

Since partnering with The Heart of America Foundation in 2001, Capital One has donated more than 1 million books to nearly 500,000 children in America, and thousands of Capital One associates have volunteered to read to children and renovate school libraries in low-income communities.

Research shows that more than 60 percent of low-income families have no books at all in their homes¹, and that roughly 40 percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills sought by employers².

“Literacy is one of the most important issues of our time and a strong measure of an individual’s future success in school, career and life,” said Ken Kido, Executive Vice President, Local Distribution, Capital One Bank. “Book by Book will help more children discover the magic of reading both at home and in school – two places where books should always be readily available. We are proud to extend our partnership with The Heart of America Foundation and invite consumers to help us improve literacy among America’s youth.”

The Book by Book campaign kicks off in conjunction with Capital One Bank’s One Week (October 14–20) national volunteer effort, an annual week of service for associates to participate in making a difference in the communities where they live and work. As part of this year’s One Week activities, associates will also partner with The Heart of America Foundation to renovate five school libraries into exciting and stimulating centers of learning for communities in need.

"For over a decade, Capital One has invested in The Heart of America Foundation and the communities we serve. The return on that investment can be measured in millions of books and thousands of volunteer hours contributed for the good of the community. Working together, we have been able to inspire a love of reading in children across the country that will last a lifetime,” said Angie Halamandaris, co-founder and President of The Heart of America Foundation.

To learn more about Capital One Book By Book, and to vote on your favorite titles, visit www.capitalone.com/bookbybook.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A., Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., and ING Bank, fsb, offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities - good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families - benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.

About The Heart of America Foundation®

The Heart of America Foundation, a national nonprofit headquartered in Washington, DC, uniquely combines volunteerism and literacy. The organization’s focus is to provide children in need everywhere with the tools to read, succeed and make a difference. The Heart of America puts books into the hands of children who need them the most while transforming school libraries in underserved communities into vital and vibrant centers of learning that become the heart of a school. Since 1997, the organization has provided children living in poverty with over 3 million library and take-home books, and engaged volunteers in more than 1,037,500 hours of service to the community.

¹ Source: Jeff McQuillan, The Literacy Crisis, California State University, 1998. http://www.heartofamerica.org/literacy.htm

² Source: Facts compiled by the International Reading Association, http://www.reading.org/downloads/meetings/ILD2007_literacy_facts.pdf.