By Patty Bennett-Uffelman | Reading aloud promotes healthy growth in babies. That’s why we want Begin With Books (BWB) to keep growing so that we can put books into the hands of every baby and toddler in Charleston County. This month, we are challenging you to help us take our growth to the next level.
The Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust has entrusted BWB with a major incentive grant, a $65,000 challenge to open service in the City of North Charleston. We need to match this grant with $85,000 in donations from the community to meet our next major growth objective. Councilman Ed Astle has notified us that the City of North Charleston has already made a $5,000 commitment to support the campaign this year.
There are 8,850 babies and toddlers in North Charleston who will be eligible for the BWB/Imagination Library. Forty percent of these children live in poverty. Without early intervention, they will face educational challenges that are rooted in the word and achievement gaps between low- and high-income families.
The BWB/Imagination Library is an evidence-based program that tackles the word gap when it matters the most: in the critical development years from birth to age 4. In its service areas, BWB is reaching a higher percentage of pre-school children than any other program: BWB is reaching 49.5 percent of children, aged birth to 4, in its service areas. This compares to 40 percent of 4-year-olds, only 4 percent of 3-year-olds, and virtually no 0-3-year-old babies reached by 4K programs in South Carolina, according to the NIEER State Preschool Yearbook 2013.
You can help us reach the next generation in North Charleston with a gift to BWB today. Donate via our website or mail your check to BEGIN WITH BOOKS, PO Box 183, Charleston SC 29402. Specify “NCHAS” in the advice to sellers (PayPal screen two) or in the remittance advice on your check. Thank you for helping us grow to meet the challenge.
Begin With Books is an all-volunteer organization that is supported by the greater Charleston community – and beyond.
Every week of the year, our volunteers are out in the community telling parents about the value of reading to young children and helping them enroll their babies in the BWB/Imagination Library. The following registration outreach opportunities are coming up, and we’d love to have your help. Email beginwithbooks@knology.net to sign up for a particular event or to add your name to our volunteer listserv:
Thursday, May 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Charleston Housing Authority Community Resources Day.
Thursday, May 21, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Mitchell Math and Science, Harvest Fair.
Thursday, May 28, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Charleston Housing Authority 12th Annual Community Jazz Festival, Robert Mills Manor.
The graph at the top of this email illustrates our growth over the past 4½ years, and not a single upward data point would have been possible without your donations and your volunteer time.
Our enrollment is at all-time high of 2,351 children, we have delivered over 70,000 books, and we want to keep this trend heading to the sky. Thank you for helping us keep our growth curve healthy!
Patty Bennett-Uffelman is co-chair of Begin With Books.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
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