Jennifer Frances honored as Lightning Community Hero
by Press Release / TampaBayLightning.comTAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning honored Jennifer Frances as the 37th Lightning Community Hero of the season during the first period of tonight's game against the Boston Bruins. Frances, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate the money to Bess the Book Bus, Trinity Café, RCMA and YES!.
Believing that literacy is an essential component to helping children reach their potential and break the cycle of poverty, Frances cashed in her 401K in 2002 to start Bess the Book Bus, Inc., a non-profit, mobile literacy outreach dedicated to building home libraries for children and families that otherwise may not have the opportunity to own books.
Bess the Book Bus annually serves approximately 12,000 children locally and throughout Florida, distributes on average 15,000 new books, and on multistate tours serves over 20,000 children.