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DeKalb group shares love of reading
Last year, DeKalb County nonprofit Children Read passed out around 30,000 books to 4,000 children.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - For more than 10 years, a DeKalb County organization has been making sure some of the youngest students have books in their homes.
Children Read now brings tens of thousands of books every year into Title 1 preschools in Atlanta and across DeKalb County.
The backstory:
Box after box, wall after wall, room after room, all filled with books.
"When someone comes in for the first time and is like, Oh! This is cute!" Cindy Jaret said.
The headquarters for the organization Children Read is in the heart of Toco Hills. The nonprofit began in 2014 by a former bookstore owner who wanted to make sure the youngest readers had books in their homes. Cindy Jaret, now the president of Children Read, started as a volunteer.
"We began distributing books and reading to children in the Title 1 schools, Pre-K classes in DeKalb County. The next year, we expanded into the Atlanta Public School System," she said.
Every week, volunteers gather to clean donated books and pack them in bags to hand out to students.
What they're saying:
"Oh, it's really a joy. Some of these children do not have any books at home, some only have a few. Some may have many books but it's still limited in what they have in the home," Jaret said.
When the volunteers go to the schools to pass out the books, they also read to the students.
"They can't keep their hands off the bags. They're pulling out the books, they're opening the books and looking at them. They're very, very excited to get books! They love books. And of course, it makes the volunteers feel very happy and so special."
All the books are donated, some by families, others by organizations or even businesses.
And even though these rooms may look full, the books go out quickly. Last year, the organization passed out around 30,000 books to 4,000 children.
"On our website, we have a running total since the organization began, and we have given out almost 200,000 books. We're right at 188,000 books that we've given out to date," she said.
While books are a fun new thing for children, they are also helping them develop their literacy.
"Of course, children are starting to learn the alphabet, they're starting to learn to read, they're young now. So it's always good to keep up with them having a lot of books," Jaret said.
What you can do:
The organization is always looking for volunteers and donations of books or money.
If you want to learn more about how you can help, you can visit their website or donate to the organization on their Amazon Wishlist.
The Source: FOX 5's Lindsay Tuman reported this story out of DeKalb County.