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Usborne Books & More Virtual Book Fair

By What's Happening

Hello Friends and Supporters,

Our Virtual Book Fair with Usborne Books & More benefitting Book Drive for Kids is happening again and it starts today!

When you purchase books through Usborne Books & More, not only are you purchasing quality books for children, but 50% of your retail purchase helps our organization to earn free books to use in our free book fairs for kids in underserved areas.  Whether you purchase books for your family and friends or you purchase books to donate, Book Drive for Kids will earn additional books for free.

How does this work? Since it’s a Virtual Book Fair, you shop online.

  1. Use this link to access the website: www.williamsbookreads.com.
  2. Click the “Shop” button. If prompted, be sure to select the “Book Drive 4 Kids 2022” event so that we will get credit for your purchase.
  3. Shop for books, puzzles, or activities. Add your selections to the cart.
  4. Add your customer information and shipping information to your cart
  5. Add your payment

That’s it! If you choose to do so, you may ship your donated books directly to us at Book Drive for Kids, Attention: Michelle Cook, 1301 Water’s Ridge, Lewisville, TX 75057

Due to shipping inflation, Usborne Books & More recently changed their shipping rates. The good news is that the more you purchase, the lower your shipping rate. Please view the details below:

If you missed participating last year, please consider shopping this week. Shop early for the holidays while benefiting Book Drive for Kids! We are grateful for your support!

Books “Fly Like an Eagle” thanks to a local Eagle Service Project

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“I want to share the power of literacy to kids in underprivileged communities. Learning to read and write will allow these kids to have more opportunities in life.”
– Camden McGregor, Eagle Scout Troop 842

A significant project lay ahead for Camden! The Eagle Scout Service Project.

After years of earning merit badges, doing service projects, and learning survival and nature skills, Camden McGregor was now ready for the project to crown all projects…his Eagle Scout Service Project. It took months to research organizations, brainstorm ideas, and finally, to select a project that represents something dear to his own heart. He decided literacy and books was it.

When Camden reached out to Book Drive for Kids, we had just heard about Young Living Stones, a group based in Del Rio, Texas, that was working with both kids and adults on both sides of the border.  As the pandemic unfolded, Young Living Stones started supporting area teachers who were offering tutoring programs as schools nearly halted for many families, exacerbating the already low education levels and needs for family income. To build reading skills, children must have books!  Book Drive for Kids immediately sent books, both in Spanish and English, to support these efforts and we connected Camden with Young Living Stones to provide additional help.

Camden soon got to work. He led several volunteer teams in fundraising via community car wash, building four bookshelves for the tutoring program, and conducting a month-long book drive. He was able to donate $550 for new books and 1,000 gently used books to fill those shelves. As Providence would have it, Shon Young from Young Living Stones was in Dallas for an event just one week after Camden finished his project so the gift presentation was in-person.

When Camden presented his gifts to Shon, he inspired others at the event to give an additional $500 for new books in Spanish.  You can imagine the excitement for all of us at Book Drive for Kids and Young Living Stones as these books travel to the border so that these children will “have more opportunities in life” just as Camden hoped.

You may not have an Eagle Project to complete, but you can get involved, too.
Volunteer or Donate today!

#BetterTogether #KidsHelpingKids #BookDriveforKids
#ReadingRocks #LiteracyMatters

Thrift Books gift & Warehouse Volunteers

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How do you give away 50,000 books?   It takes COLLABORATION & COOPERATION.

Last year Thrift Books committed 50,000 books to Book Drive for Kids, and we saw a huge opportunity right before our very eyes! Arriving 1,000 books at a time, in giant boxes called gaylords, we knew getting these books ready for distribution was a job for some energetic volunteers.

Who could we call?

The Young Men’s Service League, Home School Honor Society, and individual volunteers have been ready and willing to jump right in.  Literally!   They have consistently helped by crawling in these huge boxes and unpacked, sorted, and categorized these books. It’s not a job for the faint of heart…especially in a warehouse during the summer months in Texas! What an amazing effort and help they have been.

And their labor has not been in vain!

Check out how this enormous donation is spreading across North Texas, and placing books in the hearts and homes of children.

  1. Read Play Talk – given away at events and classes with parents
  2. Child Care Group – given away at events with parents
  3. Lovepacs – Lewisville – included in holiday food packs
  4. Communities in Schools – given to school counselors
  5. Children’s Advocacy Center – given away with Christmas gifts
  6. Reading Partners – used in their tutoring program
  7. Pedia Place – given to their counselors
  8. Blue Halo Ranch – stocked their secret reading room
  9. Christ Child Society at St Phillip’s – donated to their free book fair & new mother bags
  10. Noggin Educational STEM camps – given to camp participants
  11. New teachers for classroom libraries

If you know of a group that serves disadvantaged children who would benefit from gently-used children’s books, contact us. Join in the Race for Impact – and help us get books into the hearts and homes of children in need.

Bringing New Stories to “Book Deserts”

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When Book Drive for Kids learned that over 60% of Dallas and Tarrant county children live in “child care deserts”, we knew we had to help.

What is a “child care desert?” It is particular zip codes and/or counties where there are not enough seats at high-quality child care centers for the number of children of working parents. Parents are forced to make the difficult decision of not working outside the home or utilizing an inferior child care situation. This results in children ill-prepared for kindergarten and/or families suffering economic hardship because a parent can’t work or get further training. Here is where Child Care Group comes alongside these families by providing subsidized child care and mentoring in creating rich learning environments in the home.

Since 2020, Book Drive for Kids has partnered with Child Care Group by providing books to their families and child care centers. The cost of quality children’s books is expensive. Replacing lost or damaged books increases operating costs at a child care center and takes valuable funds away from other costs, like teacher wages.

We appreciate the families of Primrose Schools in Denton county who regularly donate pre-school books, both new and gently-used, for us to share with other preschool children, like those at Child Care Group, Lillie L Jackson Early Childhood Center in Lewisville, and the Ann Widdle Preschool and Gonzalez Preschool in Denton.

With your financial support, we can continue to support these families and child care centers with additional books to bolster learning for our most vulnerable assets – the young children of North Texas.

#BookDriveforKids
#ReadingRocks
#LiteracyMatters
#BetterTogether
#GiveABookChangeALife

Reading: critical to a child’s success

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What is one of the greatest predictors of kindergarten success?

It’s not family wealth or education. It’s not the child’s zip code or race.

Any other guesses?

If you guessed, the number of books read to a child, you’re right!  Daily conversation is a plus, too. Some of my favorite memories are snuggling on the couch with my young children and a stack of books. We learned about faraway lands, laughed at funny characters, and dreamed about visiting exotic places and meeting new people. Books have this sort of magic that bring new words, pictures, and experiences into a child’s life. They provide “hooks” where future knowledge attaches and grows.

Unfortunately, thousands of children in North Texas live in “book deserts”. They are missing out  on making these great memories and enjoying sparks of curiosity. When Nicol and I heard this, we knew we had to do something about it. We could see the impact easy access to books had given our own children and believe every child should experience the joy of reading at home with books they love.

This is why Book Drive for Kids exists: to gift books to children who want and need books at home. Because of generous donors like you, Book Drive for Kids provided over 30,000 books to children who would not have them.

Smiles, hugs, and excitement greet each volunteer at our free book fairs. Happy teachers express appreciation over and over. Book Drive for Kids free book fairs help to build a bridge from school to home that encourages reading for fun. With your help, the sky’s the limit to how many kids we can spread the love of reading and bring hope into their lives with a book and the expression of love that comes with it.

Give a Book. Change a Life.

Donate or volunteer today.

#BookDriveforKids
#ReadingRocks
#LiteracyMatters
#BetterTogether
#GiveABookChangeALife

Have You Heard of Thrift Books?!

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Have you heard of Thrift Books?

They are the largest online retailer of used books in the United States. They started in 2003 by selling used books through Amazon and have grown into an amazing online store with six distribution centers across the United States.

Last year during the Race to Kindness, we were invited to tour their Dallas distribution center and meet some of their book-loving leaders. We soon learned that we share a great love of literacy and the belief that finding homes for books was a great quest! Sharing books among other bibliophiles not only allows us to read more but salvages books from the landfill.

As a result of these conversations, we are pleased to announce that Book Drive for Kids is partnering with Thrift Books in several ways to accomplish our mission of getting more books into the hands of those who need them.

  • Thrift Books has committed to donating 50,000 books to Book Drive for Kids over the next year as part of the Race to Kindness. This influx of book inventory is propelling us into an even greater level of outreach as we are able to channel these books into multiple literacy outreaches, Child Care Group, Read Play Talk and a summer reading program as far away as Lynch, Kentucky.
  • Book Drive for Kids was the beneficiary of Thrift Books Cares gift of $38,800 from their Giving Tuesday initiative. As you can imagine, with this growth comes the need to invest in tools to help us do a better job such as new donation boxes, bookmarks, and transportation.
  • Book Drive for Kids has entered a profit-sharing program with Thrift Books, like local libraries utilize. When we receive books we cannot use, we are able to ship them to Thrift Books for some remuneration. This enables us to accept ALL book donations. So send us your books!
  • Book Drive for Kids ALSO has an affiliate partnership with Thrift Books. When you purchase a book from ThriftBooks through this link, we will receive a portion of the profits.

We are truly honored and excited about these new opportunities to reach even more children with a love for books!

You can be a part of this great adventure by purchasing books through our affiliate link with Thrift Books AND by donating any gently used book to Book Drive for Kids.

Muchas Gracias!!

By What's Happening No Comments

 

Book Drive for Kids returned to Life School-Oak Cliff with a free book fair. Our volunteers were so excited because this was one of the first campuses we held an event at back in 2017! COVID kept us out last year, but we returned!!!

One of the blessings of Regions Bank’s and Reading is Fundamental’s sponsorship of this event is the beautiful bi-lingual books we are able to offer. Additionally, Frogstreet Press donated readers from their pre-school curriculum written in Spanish. Each student took home two books, including fairy tales, Pete the Cat, National Geographic Animal books, and more that tell fun and engaging stories in both English and Spanish.

Ms. Green shared these comments,

“Good afternoon. I wanted to take a second to tell you how incredibly thankful my class and I are for our free books! My kindergarten class is a bilingual class of 8 boys and 10 girls. Books that are in Spanish print are hard to come by. You gave each of my students a free book and it is in Spanish Print! Please thank Regions Bank and your other sponsors know that Casa Green loves to read and we send a huge THANK YOU!”

Isabel Green
Bilingual Kindergarten
Life School Oak Cliff

Thank you to our special donors at Regions Bank and Frogstreet Press as well as our volunteers who shared their day to create this fun and educational opportunity available to our community! To find out how you can Change A Life With A Book, visit our website.

 

 

Virtual Book Fair

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Books are gifts that can be opened again and again!

Get your holiday shopping wrapped up at Usborne Books at Home’s Virtual Book Fair…www.williamsbookreads.org. Free shipping on orders of $100+ ends November 7.

50% of your purchase helps us to earn free books for our organization. Please share this email with your friends & family to help us reach our goal.

WHY BOOKS IN THE HOME MATTER…

Studies confirm that the number of books in the home directly predicts reading achievement. Children who grew up with books in their homes reached a higher level of education than those who did not.1

After studying statistics from 27 nations, a group of researchers found the presence of book-lined shelves in the home… gives children an enormous advantage in school!

“Home library size has a very substantial effect on educational attainment, even adjusting for parents’ education, father’s occupational status and other family background characteristics,” reports the study.

“Growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few or no books.

“Regardless of how many books the family already has, each addition to a home library helps the children get a little farther in school…”2

1. https://www.firstbook.org/images/pdf/Statics-on-Literacy.pdf
2. study published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility – psmag.com/education/home-libraries-provide-huge-educational-advantage-14212

Thank you for supporting Book Drive for Kids.

Michelle & Nicol

Got Books?

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Want to make a difference?
Be part of something life-changing?

Join Book Drive for Kids’ Share A Book Initiative!

April 23rd is World Book Day. What better way to celebrate than to ensure all children have books in their homes! In the DFW area, there are more than 630,000 economically disadvantaged children with few, if any, books in their homes. Whether it’s due to financial hardship, speaking a language other than English, or the challenges presented by recent COVID school closures, many children are without the resources they need to learn how to read and succeed in school. By encouraging reading for fun, children strengthen reading skills, build self-confidence, tap into their imagination, and learn about the people and world around them. These opportunities are lost when a child lacks access to books.

Flower Mound resident Mehgan DeProspero and her daughter Samantha were the FIRST Share-A-Book Day leaders during last year’s initiative. “It made my heart glad when Sammy heard about your book fairs, she jumped right up to find books she could donate,” Mehgan said. They sent an email to friends and neighbors and collected 76 gently-used books and monetary donations which were then shared with local children during a Book Drive for Kids Free Book Fair.

Imagine the impact if YOU joined with 100 other people to Share-A-Book! That would be SOOO many books! Help us meet our goal of 100 Share-A-Book Day leaders.

Together we can make a difference, one book at a time. Check out the Share A Book Initiative.

We can be the change we want to see in the world….simply by sharing a book.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

By General

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. A time of giving, sharing hope, and extending goodwill towards all. This past Christmas was no different.

As we know, 2020 was a difficult year that presented many new challenges. One challenge, in particular, was the effect of Covid on schools and how they educate students. Many children were schooling via Zoom and really missed the benefits of being in-person with their teachers and classmates. Children in the lower economic areas were especially impacted as they lacked access to educational and technological resources (like books at home!) many of us take for granted. This disruption in education continues to place additional stress on teachers and parents. Schools and administrators are seeking ways to support their students and meet the need of this desperate situation.

Principal Rebecca Rodriguez leads a school that faced this challenge. She reached out to her local church and asked for help. She wanted to collect books to gift her 540, Kindergarten and First Grade, students. Most of her students are ESL learners whose families live at or below the poverty line. Their lives were greatly impacted by the added difficulties of the Covid pandemic. Her heart was to give each child a book of their very own, a luxury most did not have. The need was great and time was short… they needed a Christmas Miracle!

Through a personal connection at her local church, Book Drive for Kids heard of the school’s plea. The need resonated with us because it is the heart of our organization … to get books into the hands of disadvantaged students. Book Drive for Kids was excited about the opportunity and accepted the challenge. What makes this opportunity extra special is that Principal Rodriquez’s school is in Peekskill, New York! Almost 1,400 miles away! In less than 5 hours, Book Drive for Kids heard the need, coordinated with the church partner, and ordered the books. A special thanks to one of our partners, First Book for their role in providing low-cost books to disadvantaged children and for shipping this order so quickly. This truly was a team effort!

Our Christmas Miracle – 600 brand new children’s books were on their way!

The school was thrilled by the response to their plea and shocked this gift was coming from Lewisville, Texas! Principal Rodriquez was so grateful and sent Book Drive for Kids a heartfelt thank you.

“Your donation made it possible to create an event that not only brought joy and levity to this challenging season but provided students with a beautiful gift that will continue to support their academic journeys as readers.” She went on to add, “Your efforts are nothing short of amazing! You intervened at a time when we needed you most and we are most grateful for your partnership, love, and care.”

Book Drive for Kids also received a kind letter from the Peekskill City School Superintendent. Dr. David Mauricio thanked us for our gift which helped their district uphold their tenets of “nurturing the ‘whole child’ and providing culturally responsive academics.”

What a joy and privilege it was to bring a Christmas Miracle to students across the country. This would not have been possible without our amazing donors, who enable Book Drive for Kids to be ready with resources to respond so quickly to needs like this. Thank you for turning a desperate plea into a true Miracle.

To quote Dr. Seuss, “Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.” Blessing children and sharing hope isn’t limited to Christmas.

Watch your in-box for more news about exciting events coming in 2021. Happy New Year!!