Nora Kolmer

You can give the joy of reading to local children in need by joining Books for Collier Kids in celebrating the birthday of the renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel, lovingly known as Dr. Seuss, throughout March by participating in our Stay at Home and Read campaign.

Hosted in conjunction with the national literacy movement Read Across America, our local initiative offers you the opportunity to adopt a Title I classroom, providing books to less fortunate students in Collier County and addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy, access to books.

Instead of attending an event, we invite you to Stay at Home and Read to the children in your life while helping students in our pre-K Head Start, kindergarten, first- and second-grade classes in Title I schools by making a donation at BooksForCollierKids.org.

Through your donation, children in our classrooms will receive a book every month, September through May, to enjoy at home with their families as they build personal libraries.

Books for Collier Kids has donated more than 750,000 books to disadvantaged children in the past 11 years. Research shows that the number of books in the home correlates strongly with children’s reading skills, yet most youngsters from low-income families have no books at all. To help break the cycle of poverty and give these young students a chance, Books for Collier Kids gives more than 7,000 books annually to students right here in Collier County.

A volunteer-driven organization, Books for Collier Kids purchases books from the national First Book Marketplace, which enables us to stretch your donations and buy high-quality, age-appropriate, new books in large quantities at deep discounts for our children.

This year, we will help local children celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Thursday, March 2, as well as Read Across America, by distributing 1,500 copies each of his classics “The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “Fox in Socks” and “Oh, Say Can You Say” during the normal March distribution period.

Your donation of $500 provides books for an entire classroom for the entire school year. For as little as $25, you can support one child for an entire year. All donations are accepted gratefully on behalf of the children and their families.

Imagine touching so many lives and in such an important way!

For more information on Books for Collier Kids, and to support our vital efforts, please visit our website at www.BooksforCollierKids.org and click on “How to Donate.”

Also, be sure to Stay at Home and Read with the children in your lives.

Naples Daily News – February 27, 2017