Last week I shared with you the newest Champions for Kids project that my family and I were participating in. Being a huge fan of reading and books, I was excited that the September SIMPLE Service project was all about collecting books for kids in need! As part of the project, I hosted a Nickelodeon Big Help Book Drive.
I have always felt really lucky that I had two parents who made sure I fell in love with books and reading practically from birth. Some of my earliest memories are of being read to, or of flipping through books on my own. I had a pretty expansive library even as a toddler, and as I got older I was encouraged to pick out new books at book fairs and through those monthly fliers from Scholastic that were sent home from school. I’m confident that the foundation in literacy that my parents built for me directly influenced my decision to make English one of my college majors.
What I didn’t know at the time was that wasn’t the case for every child. 61% of low-income families have no books for children in their homes, and more than 80% of the preschool and after-school programs serving at-risk children have no books at all. If you remember from the Champions For Kids Bag It Forward project I participated in last month, the teacher who received my donations said they sent books home with the kids at night so they would have things to read.
There are books available at Walmart that are based on Nickelodeon TV shows, like these SpongeBob ones. A lot of them come in these six packs, which are a great savings!