Jester & Pharley Phund

Our mission is to engage underserved and ill children through the joys of reading and laughter, empowering them with greater self-efficacy, resilience, compassion and hope for the future.

Upon “The Jester’s” 1995 release, medical specialists, educators and students sent creative lesson ideas and activities to the Saltzmans, inspired by their love of the book. That overwhelming response spawned our Reading Makes A Difference literacy program, which fosters a genuine enthusiasm for reading and a fervent commitment to helping others.

In 2012, we introduced the bilingual English/Spanish “Jester.” It has been so well received, that we now have 30,000 copies in print, valued by medical centers and schools as well as Spanish-speaking families.

In 2019, a Tokyo Rotary Club commissioned 5,000 copies of an English/Japanese bilingual “Jester” for the Japanese Red Cross Society to gift to patients and newborns.

To date, over 400,000 copies of the book are in print, with 30,000 more to be printed in 2025.

While over 171,000 low-income students have read nearly 51 million pages in 310 RMD programs, reflections from foundations, schools, hospitals and students show our deeper success.

“We are pleased to support the work of The Jester as his story continues to inspire a love of reading and the joy of giving to others,” said Joseph Drown Foundation President Wendy Wachtell.

“The RMD program gave students a reason to come back to school excited to read every day,” said a librarian. “They couldn’t wait to talk about their favorite books with other students and to read as much as possible to help ill kids.

A Compton 4th grader wrote: “Before I came to Jefferson, I hated reading. But when I heard our reading would benefit kids in the hospital, I couldn’t stop reading. Now I love to read! The Jester has inspired me.”

“‘The Jester’ was a great story for our students,” an OC principal recently said. “The theme of us being responsible to make a difference spoke to our students as a way to live each day in support of helping others. Not only did they increase their literacy, but they also attained a deeper love of reading and made a difference in the lives of many who need compassion.”

We created an art project with a partner school this year where students drew where they look for laughter and feel happy. They showed Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) growth with imaginative drawings. Art supplies and sketch books brought smiles to class artists who showed special creativity. A 2nd teacher said the program “gave low-achieving students the opportunity to show off their talents.” All requested the art contest’s return.

Ongoing requests for our program’s return show our success. To date, 75% of schools in our program last year are on the calendar for this academic year. Others are working to incorporate the program into their spring semester.

GOALS
1. To bring the program to 20 OC schools
2. To expand the program’s SEL components
3. To inspire more students to do community service

1. $120,000: To bring 20 RMD programs to low-income OC schools
2. $15,000: To develop more SEL resources
3. $7,500: To hire a part-time RMD project assistant
4. $6,000: To introduce our literacy program to one low-income OC school

We bring our Reading Makes A Difference literacy program to low-income elementary schools throughout Southern California. In Orange County, we have brought our program to underserved schools in such districts as Magnolia, Westminster, Santa Ana, Ocean View, Anaheim, Orange and Huntington Beach.

Unfortunately, I never met David Saltzman, the author-artist who created “The Jester Has Lost His Jingle,” the children’s book at the heart of our programs. But having been a part of The Jester & Pharley Phund for 23 years, I feel as though I do know him. Our small staff worked in David’s home ‒ until the Covid19 pandemic forced us to shelter at home. But even as we now continue to work remotely, I feel that David still reminds us to persevere. What makes our programs distinctive is, in fact, David Saltzman. He created “The Jester” in his own likeness, weaving his insistence on making the best of things, remaining resilient and finding humor in unlikely places throughout the story.

I started with The Phund as office manager, but bit by bit I found myself taking on new tasks, finding innovative ways to develop our literacy programs and expand our medical project donating David’s book to young patients. I discovered how much I love talking about David’s story with students who need motivation, who need to be inspired, who find The Jester & Pharley to be characters they can always count on.

As my duties have expanded, I continue to discover David’s ability to inspire low-income, minority students, their teachers and families. Presenting The Phund’s assemblies these last several years has made me very sensitive to students’ individual responses to “The Jester.” Knowing David’s story helps them want to share their own stories.

“Not only were students inspired to read independently and improve their literacy skills, they also learned to appreciate life and the value of giving back to those in need,” one principal recently wrote us. “It is these wonderful themes in David’s book that are so important to share.” When educators tell us how positively David’s story impacts their students, I feel as though David is patting me on the back.

The short life, deep insight, kindness and resilience of my son David Saltzman drive me to make The Phund sustainable and successful. The challenge always has been to build a board equally dedicated. That has meant finding supporters who see the value of our programs that inspire children to grow into literate, caring citizens. After donating a Jester Smile Cart to CHOC in 2001, a successful businessman told me he never would have supported the initial publication of “The Jester.” But he now sees the value of what we do. A key challenge is to find board members who also see why helping students and patients with “The Jester” matters.

Often our literacy and medical programs intersect. In 2014, a Gauer Elementary teacher in Anaheim asked me to present an RMD program in honor of Amber Delos Santos, a 6th grader who had coped with cancer since 2nd grade. Students read thousands of pages in her honor to give “Jester” books to CHOC patients before her passing. Former Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait joined in celebrating her.

Our challenge has been to show potential supporters how our unique RMD program makes such a positive difference in the lives of disadvantaged and ill children like Amber. Kids immediately get it. “One mom told me her first grader was reading under the covers with a flashlight to make sure the children in the hospital received ‘The Jester,’” said Paula Mills, principal of Hayden Elementary in Midway City.

To stir interest among potential donors, our board has begun smaller-scale on-line campaigns and is looking at additional social media efforts. I am also working with them to develop ways of telling our story as forcefully as teachers at a Solana Beach School did in 1999: “’The Jester Has Lost His Jingle’ has inspired the students. They have been cheerful, better friends to others and have had a better attitude overall. David has taught all of us that each individual has the opportunity to make a difference in the world, beginning with ourselves first.”