A significant portion of our funds goes toward the purchase of books for our elementary school students. Many of our kids have not owned a book before, and some are shocked that they can keep the books that we give them. These books often become prized possessions that can be read again and again and shared with family and friends. We collaborate with teachers and reading specialists in each of our elementary schools to select books that will engage our struggling readers and also match their reading abilities. Our goal is to offer a variety of books so that our young readers will be able to choose books that feed their interests and stimulate an appetite for further reading.

In the 2020-21 school year, we donated 8,931 books—an average of about ten books per student to nearly 900 young readers. We offer a special thanks to Bookworm Central for donating over ten thousand dollars’ worth of books—about 30% of the nearly $36,000 dollars spent on books for our elementary school students. Again, our elementary schools staff was resourceful in helping us get engaging books into the hands of our struggling readers.

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