Toys for Tots Launches Literacy Program
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Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 3/5/2008 2:05:00 PM
Toys for Tots, the nonprofit organization that has delivered Christmas presents to millions of needy American kids for the past 61 years, is about to embark on another good deed: launching a children’s literacy program.
The Virginia-based organization, run by the U.S. Marines, has unveiled the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, which will collect and deliver books to disadvantaged children across the country in an effort to break the cycle of poverty and youth illiteracy, reports the Washington Post.
"The Marine Corps is not in the business of teaching literacy, but we can provide the tools to do that," says Lt. Gen. Pete Osman, president and chief executive of Toys for Tots. The charity will raise money to buy books and help fund literacy programs at libraries, schools, and nonprofit organizations, he adds.
Toys for Tots will run a "Buck a Book" fundraising drive, collecting $1 donations at UPS Store franchises. The UPS store will pay the overhead costs of the program, Osman told the Post. Scholastic has vowed to offer a selection of age-appropriate titles to the charity at a cost of $1 each.
One in three fourth graders in the U.S. can’t read at basic grade level, and nearly 12.8 million children across the country live in poverty, says Toys for Tots, which will continue its toy drive.
