Books
In Kansas City, there are over 225,000 low-literate adults (National Center for Education Statistics). Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72% chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves ( www.proliteracy.org ).
– In Kansas City, less than half of third graders are reading at grade level. For many schools with greater needs, it is less than 25 percent.
– Students who can’t read by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.
– In Kansas City’s lowest income neighborhoods, research estimates only 1 in 300 children own a book in their home.
– Starting Kindergarten, children from a lower socioeconomic group read around 25 hours. Compared to higher socioeconomic groups with up to 1,000 hours.
Reading can have an immense affect on children and the benefits are countless. Books can bring a sense of joy, imagination, comfort, and happiness giving a child time to enjoy a book or read a story can show and tell them they matter. Statistics show reading can build self-esteem, vocabulary, feeds imagination and even improves their sleeping patterns. A book can have a very real impact on a child’s life, that follows them through adulthood, and provides them with something to call their own.
Hands to Hearts collects new and gently used books to give a child their own book to take home, donate books to their schools, and eventually to outfit all their library shelves in both the home and community. The most effective donations are from book drives scheduled intermittently with schools, churches, scout troops, etc. Book donation boxes are located across the city with participating businesses and individuals, in addition we provide a donation box at our packing site on an ongoing basis.
Your book donation can have a very real impact on a child’s life. Encourage these young children to read, and provide them with something to call their own.
– Go through your children’s outgrown books and share those they no longer use
– Ask friends and neighbors to help with our cause
– Volunteer to help with the book drive. Or, better yet, do your own with your neighbors, schools, organizations.
– Do you or does someone you know own a business which would allow us to put up info about Hands to Hearts and the book drive? Would they be willing to be a drop off location for books?
– Help sort and distribute donations.
Hands to Hearts provides tax deductible forms to ALL donors and donations. Click here to request your form.