Posts tagged One Million Books in Just Ten Days

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: The Final Reckoning

Apr26
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysRecently, First Book promised to distribute one million brand-new books to kids in need across the country in just ten days.

Those ten days are up, and we are as good as our word. Better, even … altogether we distributed a little over 1.2 million books to the schools and programs in our national network. Woot!

25,000 of those books went to kids at Title I schools across Montana. Heather Denny, a Title I specialist in Montana who was instrumental in helping First Book distribute the books at a statewide conference of Title I teachers, emailed us this morning to tell us how excited her colleagues were.

Heather Denny, a Montana teacher, on First Book“It was amazing!” she wrote. “You should have seen the smiles on our teacher’s faces. We had a retiring teacher who worked in the book room all day because she wanted to see the young teachers coming in and leaving with boxes of books.”

If that doesn’t warm your heart, you are made of sterner stuff than we are.

First Book volunteers in MilwaukeeThanks to everyone who made this possible, from the hard-working volunteers who spent long, tiring days in warehouses to the generous publishers who provided the books to our nonprofit and corporate partners who provide the support needed, and especially to all the teachers and local program leaders who take these books and use them to turn kids into readers.

Want to get involved in our next amazing book distribution? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you monthly emails sharing stories and letting you know how you can get involved in your community.

Posted in Book Distributions, First Book Events, First Book Partners, National Book Bank, Teachers, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , ,

It’s Raining Books in Milwaukee

Apr25
2012 Rochee Jeffrey Written by Rochee Jeffrey

One Million Books in Just Ten Days

Last week First Book  distributed close to one million books in Seattle and  Minneapolis. This week, we have a team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin distributing 420,000 books to programs and schools that serve kids in need. Of those 420,000 books, more than 100,000 will be distributed locally throughout the Southeastern Wisconsin area.

To make this distribution possible, New Threads of Hope is donating warehouse space and assistance with logistics, and M&I employees are serving as volunteers, assisting with the packing, shipping and pick up of books throughout the week.

We are incredibly grateful for all of the volunteers and support that we have had over the past couple of weeks. Thanks to the help of of our many volunteers and partners,  we are well on our way to distributing 1.2 million books in just 10 days!

Want to learn more? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you photos, video and information about how you can help get books to kids in need. 

Posted in Book Distributions, Volunteers - Tagged , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Minneapolis!

Apr19
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysFirst Book staff and volunteers are working overtime this week to distribute over one million brand-new books to schools and programs serving kids in need across the country.

This week, we have a team in Seattle, distributing 350,000 new books, as well as a team in Minneapolis, distributing half-a-million books to schools and programs around the country.

Over 200,000 of those books — donated by our generous partners at Random House and Disney Publishing Worldwide — are staying in the Twin cities area, going directly to kids at local schools and programs serving kids in need.

First Book at the Hmong International Academy in MinneapolisWe got the chance to meet some of those local teachers and students yesterday at Hmong International Academy. We also got to do one of our favorite things – give brand-new books to every kid at the school, and watch them sit right down and start reading.

One of First Book’s greatest challenges is connecting with the kids who need our help. Although there are 27,000 local schools and programs in First Book’s national network, that’s only a fraction of the people we’re trying to reach. So we rely on local partners, like the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, to help us get more educators signed up.

Ten Days, One Million Books: First Book on ABC5 News in Minneapolis“Members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers have jumped at the chance to be involved in this partnership with First Book,” said Lynn Nordgren, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. “So far, more than 350 teachers have registered with First Book, and about 140 requested books for their students.”

Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers and generous partners and donors who make these book distributions possible, and especially to the heroic teachers and program leaders who do the most difficult jobs, in Minneapolis and around the country, every day.

Want to learn more? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you photos, video and some more ways you can get involved.

Posted in Book Distributions, First Book Events, National Book Bank, Teachers, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Seattle!

Apr18
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysFirst Book staff and volunteers are lining ‘em up and knocking ‘em down this week as we work to distribute over one million brand-new books to schools and programs serving kids in need across the country.

There are 350,000 new books in the Seattle warehouse, donated by our friends at Random House, Disney Publishing Worldwide and Townsend Press. About 100,000 of those books will be picked up by local teachers and nonprofit leaders, while the rest will be shipped out to similar programs across the country.

“I got the chance yesterday to work alongside Weedy, who helps run an after-school program in LaHood, Wash. that serves 350 children, mostly from low-income families. She was so excited to get books for her students that she was coming to the warehouse twice — once to pick up books for her kids and once just to volunteer!” — Kim, First Book staffer

First Book doesn’t have a warehouse of our own, so when publishers donate huge quantities of new books, we rely on other nonprofits and generous companies to loan us warehouse space. This week we’re working with our friends at World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that provides food, clothing, medicine and other desperately-needed resources to children and families around the world.

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: First Book in SeattleWe’ve worked with World Vision in the past; they’re amazing people who do a tremendous amount of good, and we’re grateful for their support.

World Vision also helped round up volunteers from the community, who are helping us move pallets, sort out shipping labels and load boxes of new books into teachers’ cars and vans. We’ve got a great bunch of volunteers out there; everyone has been friendly and full of energy and lots of kids in need will have new books next week, thanks to their efforts.

Outstanding work, Seattle!

Tune in tomorrow, when we’ll check in with another group of First Book staff and volunteers in Minneapolis.

Want to learn more? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you photos, video and some more ways you can get involved.

Posted in Book Distributions, Book Recipients, First Book Partners, National Book Bank, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days

Apr17
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten Days

How First Book distributed one million books in ten daysUPDATES!

Want to get involved in our next book distribution? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you monthly emails sharing stories and letting you know how you can get involved in your community.

Posted in Book Distributions, National Book Bank, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , ,