PRESS RELEASE:
The inaugural Red Balloon Awards, presented by Traveling Stories, will honor five literacy heroes including IDW Publishing. The event will benefit the organization’s StoryTent program, which provides free reading support to more than 2,000 underserved children in San Diego every year.
Winners of the award are selected based on the literary works they create, their advocacy efforts and the financial support they provide to community programs.
While IDW’s trophy cabinets may already be overflowing with Eisner and Harvey awards, Publisher/CEO Ted Adams said this award is “sometime entirely different.”
“It recognizes the work that the employees of IDW have done to support a local non-profit that is making our community better,” said Adams. “Everyone who works at IDW knows how important literacy and the joy of reading is to having a happy and productive life.”
IDW will receive their award at the Red Balloon Awards dinner and gala event on Saturday, September 17, 2016 from 6 to 9:30 pm at the San Diego Woman’s Club, 2557 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92130.
Other award recipients include Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Las Patronas, Waypoint Public, and Don & Jo Soderquist. Traveling Stories will also announce a Volunteer of the Year on the night of the event.
This year’s gala, with the theme “Cirque du Livre” (Circus of Books), will begin with a cocktail reception with music by DJ Marcus More and live cirque performances. The event includes a silent auction. In addition, VIP guests will have the chance to visit with former professional U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan for a special cocktail hour.
The awards show will be hosted by Emily Moberly, San Diego Woman of the Year Finalist and Founder of Traveling Stories, and 10-year-old Malika Shaw, a regular attendee at the City Heights StoryTent. Shaw was the guest of honor at Traveling Stories’ 2014 event “A Night Out So They Can Read.” She was recently reclassified from a below-average reader to an accelerated reader at school. Her mom credits this improvement to the weekly visits Shaw makes to the Traveling Stories StoryTent.
“The Red Balloon Awards is a chance to celebrate the transformative power of reading,” said Emily Moberly, Founder of Traveling Stories. “The funds raised from this event are vital for ensuring that children in San Diego become confident readers and attain every opportunity to flourish.”
Key sponsors for the Red Balloon Awards include Mission Federal Credit Union, IDW Publishing, Mike Hess Brewing Company, and St. Petersburg Vodka. Event planning services are provided by Live Life Shredded.
Early-bird ticket registration for the Red Balloon Awards is $65 per person ($75 after 8/15/16) or $450 for a table of eight ($600 for a table of 8 after 8/15/16), while sponsorship opportunities range from $450 to $10,000.
For information on how to purchase tickets or become a sponsor while helping local children and their families fall in love with reading, contact Alyssa Humbert at
619. 919.5115 or Alyssa@travelingstories.org.
About IDW
IDW Media Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: IDWM) is a fully integrated media company, which includes publishing, games, entertainment, and the San Diego Comic Art Gallery.
IDW Publishing’s comic book and graphic novel catalog includes some of the world’s most popular entertainment brands, including Transformers, My Little Pony, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, and Disney’s classic characters. At IDW’s core is its commitment to creator-owned comics including 30 Days of Night, Locke & Key, Wormwood, Ragnarök, V-Wars, and Archangel by bestselling sci-fi author William Gibson.
IDW Publishing is also home to the acclaimed and award-winning imprints; Top Shelf, The Library of American Comics, Yoe! Books, and Artist Editions, showcasing the greatest original art ever published in American comic books.
IDW Games’ diverse line-up includes the international phenomenon Machi Koro, as well as hit licensed games such as X-Files, Back to the Future, The Godfather, and TMNT.
IDW Entertainment currently serves as the worldwide distributor of Wynonna Earp airing on the Syfy Channel in the U.S. and is producing BBC America’s Dirk Gently, based the best seller by Douglas Adams starring Elijah Wood and Sam Barnett, and Brooklyn Animal Control for USA Network.
About Traveling Stories
A 2016 finalist for the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize, Traveling Stories helps disadvantaged children discover a love for reading and develop money management skills by the fourth grade. In addition to providing reading support to families in San Diego, Traveling Stories has also built libraries in El Salvador, Nicaragua, South Sudan, the Philippines and Cambodia. Through a social franchise opportunity, Traveling Stories has expanded its StoryTent model to Long Beach, California, Turlock, California and Toronto, Canada.
