Feed a Hungry Mind with Books

To provide children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books

Beneficiary:

Donations to the cause benefit:

First Book A 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Positions:

We can end illiteracy in our lifetime.
You can help.

Category:

Education

Description:

Every $10 donated to First Book provides four brand new books to a child in need. Since 1992 First Book has distributed more than 50 million new books to children in low-income families nationwide.

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Why We Do It:

Think for a moment how profound it is that you can read this – and how critical reading is to every part of our lives: from filling out a voting ballot to checking the dosage on a prescription to completing a job application.

Kids who can't read can't succeed. As adults, they become statistically more likely to suffer poor health, struggle in the job market and rely on government assistance. In California, third-grade literacy rates are used to project future prison needs.

For a shocking number of kids, the cause is simple: they have no access to books.

More than 80% of the preschool and after-school programs serving this population have no books at all. According to a University of Michigan study, in low-income neighborhoods, there is on average just one age-appropriate book for every 300 kids. Compare that to 13 books for every child in middle-income neighborhoods.

First Book is committed to ending the cycle of illiteracy, poverty and suffering by closing the gap.