GIVE Project at Children’s Book Bank

What is your favorite childhood book? Mine is Corduroy. Or maybe The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I had tens and tens of books to choose from as a child. I also had people who could and would read to me. However, I learned last Tuesday evening, at The Children’s Book Bank, that often children, specifically in lower-income households, do not have multiple books or even one book from which to read. 

In low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books to children is one book for every 300 children.
Middle-income neighborhoods average 13 age-appropriate books per child.

Thanks to our coordinator Jordan Lusk and our THF GIVE Committee, I and three fellow THFers (plus a mini THFer by the name of Nicholas) were able to sit at the Children’s Book Bank and help to provide clean, well-kept, diverse, and even a few Spanish version books that will ultimately be packed into green bags, 14 per bag, and delivered to kids in Portland through Head Start, schools, clinics, and other agencies. The program is called Building Home Libraries and our volunteer efforts will help to bring books into the homes of many school-aged kids.