Fall is the time that childcare centers, preschools, and family childcare providers across the counties refresh and relaunch their Raising A Reader programs. The most important thing they need, of course, are new books for the red book bags that go home every week to the families!
The Raising A Reader team depends on volunteers to sort through thousands of books, package them according to the individual needs of a classroom or center, and then get them back out there. It is a huge job that requires attention to detail, unflagging enthusiasm for making sure at-risk kids get the books they need, and, of course, some expert delivery teams. This effort would not have been possible without the many partners and supporters who opened their warehouses, spent the day counting and double-checking books and materials, boxed them up, and then drove many, many miles to get those red book bags out there.
FedEx, CalTrans, Johnson & Johnson, and United Way volunteers
Last week, FedEx volunteers, including two executives, and 20 CalTrans employees participated in the event and pulled off the fastest and most efficient book sort to date. Four Johnson & Johnson volunteers also showed up to round out the effort:
- FedEx delivered 5 pallets of books to the Caltrans building in Oakland
- Over 3,000 books were sorted and packaged
- Two FedEx executives hopped onto FedEx trucks and delivered the books to 33 different schools throughout Alameda County.
In Alameda County, Raising A Reader works with over 75 schools and programs, serves over 160 classrooms, and provides books to 3,000+ families with young children. Raising A Reader’s mission is to close the achievement gap before it appears by engaging limited-income families in daily book-sharing with their children from birth to 5, thereby fostering healthy brain development, family-child bonding, and the early literacy skills essential for school success. On behalf of the nearly 9,000 families that benefit from the RAR program every year, we thank you.
