We can’t thank the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation enough, for giving us a $12,500 Community Respons
e Grant to purchase books for the youth we serve in our community to read and learn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the beginning of the pandemic, the youth we serve were not only cut off from their supports at school, they couldn’t access books from the library either. For many of the families we serve, spending fifteen or twenty dollars to purchase new books isn’t something that’s feasible.
Over the course of a number of weeks, Pam worked with staff at the Indigo Charlottetown and Coles Summerside to purchase a wide variety of books with our grant. With the help of our other Mentoring Coordinators and our Executive Director, she was able to choose books for youth in all our programs, which includes a wide age range and variety of interests.
Our first opportunity to distribute books was at an outdoor Book Fair for our Bigs & Littles. They had so much fun picking out books for themselves! One of our Little Sisters was thrilled to pick out books for not only herself, but for the rest of her family. We were lucky that the weather held out and that our matches were able to safely look through the books while maintaining social distancing outdoors.
As we continue to distribute books, we are so thrilled to hear from parents that their kids are really enjoying their book selections! “Wow, this is such an incredible opportunity. My children love to read & are so very excited with these new books!” For another Little Sister, the opportunity to browse for books for herself was such a wonderful experience, she spent more than an hour carefully looking at all of her choices.
For children who rely on school or public libraries, they may only borrow books, they do not have the luxury of building their own libraries and having a collection of “old favorites” that they can have access to during moments of nostalgia or a need for comfort.
When we distribute books, children make connections with one another by enthusiastically sharing stories or favorite authors. The more that we can put books within reach of children, the more that “word-of-mouth” will encourage young readers.
We can’t thank Indigo Love of Reading Foundation enough for all they do to nurture the love of reading in our community through their support of school libraries and for providing us with a $12,500 Community Response Grant for the youth in our community to read and learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for igniting the power and potential of the youth we serve!