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Jacob films a video of Alana reading Anne of Green Gables to Reuben.

continued from page 24

and female panel that does the actual
judging.” The winner receives $250 in
seed money to start her own business.
Alana, now a rising senior, won
the competition in the spring of her
sophomore year, guided by coach
Rachel Schostak, who helped her and
the other participants map out their
business ideas and presentations.
Schostak, an entrepreneur who
built Styleshack.com, her shop-local
online platform, from startup to
acquisition by Neighborhood SEEN
magazine, spoke with the girls about
their pitches and how to bring them
to life the morning of the competi-
tion. She says she remembers being
impressed by Alana’s plans.
“I think Alana’s business really stood
out to me because the mission was
about helping others,” Schostak said.
“I think anyone can come up with
a product, but I think the products
that are really sustainable nowadays
are the ones that have a true mission
behind them for a do-good cause. I
remember telling her, ‘There’s some-
thing here because there aren’t a lot of
programs out there and platforms for
dyslexia.’”

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RESEARCH TO REALITY

After winning the competition, the
Blumenstein kids set out to build on
the idea, researching what types of
books they wanted to read and how to
film them. They settled on reading the
abridged version of classics to a target
audience of those well beyond the
early story time years. Then, in June,
the website was launched.
“We had been thinking about it
for a while, but when I did the BBYO
Building Entrepreneurship program,
that gave me an opportunity to learn
more about the business side of things
and how we could actually make it a
reality,” Alana said.
The project has been well-received
at home and abroad, says mother
Carol Blumenstein, who is active on
related message boards that provide
support and resources for parents
with diverse needs tied to their chil-

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26

August 24 • 2017

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dren’s learning and development.
She fields comments online from
moms all over the world, many whose
children are struggling with the same
challenges. The website and videos
help families realize they are not
alone, she says, which is an empower-
ing message.
“When they see KidsRead2Kids.
com , and they see the welcome video,
and they see what my kids say and
they show it to their children, they
come back and they’re practically in
tears,” she said. “They come back and
say, ‘Thank you, thank you.’”
The website has welcomed viewers
from more than 40 countries, includ-
ing the U.S., Australia, New Zealand,
Malaysia, Israel, Brazil, India, Egypt,
Germany, Singapore, Sri Lanka and
France, she said. It has been men-
tioned by the International Dyslexia
Association on the organization’s
Facebook page and also posted about
by a teacher’s organization in Egypt.
“My kids, they all have their own
struggles, and yet they each have
their own amazing passion to help
others,” Carol Blumenstein said. “And
you can see it when you go on to
KidsRead2Kids.com.”
Alana, Jacob and Reuben say the
project reflects the values they’ve
grown up with and are their way of
doing tikkun olam.
The kids say their role models has
been their grandmother, philanthro-
pist and international Jewish leader
Penny Blumenstein of Bloomfield
Hills, chairman of the board of the
Joint Distribution Committee.
“She travels all over the world
trying to help people,” Alana says.
“She’s really taught us a lot about our
responsibility and giving back to the
community. She’s such a leader in our
Jewish community that it inspires us
to try and follow in her footsteps.”
Meanwhile, Reuben, who’s going
into sixth grade and designed the logo,
says he’s proud to be a part of the proj-
ect and of what the logo represents.
He says: “I just thought whenever you
read, you really are a superhero.” •