Rob Rumley, a Vice President and Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, volunteers to read to pre-K students at Usher Elementary School.

More than 30 Morgan Stanley Wealth Management employees volunteered to read a book to most of the 1,100 pre-kindergarten students in Atlanta Public Schools on May 3, 2017. Each volunteer arrived at a different school to experience the joy of reading with the students. The volunteers read the children’s book, “Rice & Rocks”, which is written by Sandra Richards, Managing Director and Head of Business Development & Segment Marketing at Morgan Stanley. The book celebrates family, and teaches children the value of their heritage and the importance of cultural diversity.

Rob Rumley, a Morgan Stanley Vice President and Financial Advisor, was more than happy to spend his morning with Usher Elementary School students. He remembers how special it was to have a guest reader in his own class when he was young student.

"When I was 10 years old, a classmate's Dad came in to read to our class," recalls Rumley. "He was charismatic, and he happened to mention he was a stockbroker. That was the first time I had heard about that job and I couldn't get that career idea out of my head. You never know what positive impressions storytelling – as well as sharing – can make in a young person's life."

At Scott Elementary School, Walter Jameson, a Morgan Stanley Managing Director and Atlanta Perimeter Complex Manager, read to an eager group of students. The students in his classroom also got to taste rice and beans prepared by their teachers as a tribute to the book's title, where the 'rocks' represent beans.

Richards flew in from New York to read to three classrooms at Toomer Elementary School. At the end of the day, each student was given a book to take home, with 1,500 copies donated by Morgan Stanley and First Book.

Morgan Stanley encourages its employees to give back to the community both financially and through firm-sponsored volunteer projects that take place year-round. In fact, each June, the firm’s Atlanta offices participate in Morgan Stanley’s Global Volunteer Month.