The educational and social nonprofit First Book is partnering with author Alane Adams’ Rise Up Foundation to supply $130,000 in new books to school districts in Houston and Northern California ravaged by natural disasters.
The partnership will begin with an 11,600-copy donation to the Lake County, Calif., area, where 12 schools were hit, last year, by the Mendocino Complex fire.
Adams, an author, entrepreneur and literacy philanthropist, founded the Rise Up Foundation in 2008 to support a variety of literacy projects. “The ability to put new books into the hands of children affected by these disasters is a way to help them return to a sense of normalcy,” she said.
Adams is personally responsible for 3,600 of the 11,600-copy donation. The books will be distributed to the affected schools in the form of credits that can be used to purchase books via the First Books Marketplace, which allows registered schools to purchase titles at a 50-90% discount from retail pricing.
First Book has donated millions of books to schools and libraries affected by disasters such as hurricanes and floods.
First Book founder, president, and CEO Kyle Zimmer said: “We can’t allow our teachers or our children be among the collateral damage of these already-devastating fires. We need to ensure educators have everything they need to teach, and kids have everything they need to learn.”
