The Alpha Xi Delta Women’s Fraternity is one of our campus partners working with our Campus Advisory Board network. They have been very supportive of First Book by starting advisory boards within their Alpha Xi Delta chapters and volunteering with existing advisory boards. The Alpha Xi Delta National President, Deborah Fenwick Maas, hopes to have First Book integrated into every Alpha Xi Delta chapter.

Recently Erin and I had the opportunity to attend the Alpha Xi Delta Leadership Conference at Purdue University. The first day of the conference was dedicated to service. In the morning, we went with 12 Alpha Xi Delta women to visit the wonderful children at the Lafayette Head Start. The women got to experience first-hand the rewards of sharing their love of books with children. They read a book titled What Can I Do? that was published by the Alpha Xi Delta Foundation in addition to books the Head Start had received from the First Book National Book Bank. This was followed by a creative snack time involving Ritz, goldfish crackers, and blue cream cheese, and a lively version of Duck-Duck-Goose.

Later in the afternoon, during a conference session dedicated to First Book, the women shared their experience at the Head Start with the rest of the group. Reagan Story, from Lafayette Head Start, also shared how much the support of the community and organizations like First Book mean to the children they serve. These personal accounts really captured the attention of the women and brought new inspiration for the partnership.

We look forward to continuing to build on the excitement generated at the conference! First Book has provided over 40 million new books to children in need in hundreds of communities nationwide — but we couldn’t do any of it without the wonderful support of our partners and volunteers.