ReadingWithKids.org has recently distributed over a thousand new books for children at local events. At the Carencro Police Department‘s National Night Out, over 100 books were distributed. A few days later, Saturday, October 10th at the Kiwanis Zydeco Pancake Breakfast, Kiwanians distributed another 150 books.
For the New Iberia Boys & Girls Club ‘Trunk or Treat‘ Thursday, October 22, over 400 books were distributed. RwK Board Member Michelle Luquette noted, “I’ve never been to an event where we ran out of books, but there were a lot of kids who showed up. Some of the kids sat down and began reading the books right away, before the event was even finished.”
Brianna Davis, the Director for the Pershing Street-New Iberia Boys and Girls Club commented, “I was really excited to be able to connect our ‘Trunk or Treat’ to literacy. When you think about a fall festival, you think about candy and games, but knowing that so many of our members were excited to be able to take home books, and that they were interested, was a huge win for us.”
At the Louisiana Truck Show in Rayne Friday & Saturday, October 23 & 24, more than 450 books were distributed to children. In addition, several truckers accepted large RwK signs to put on their rigs, and agreed to share our information with the companies they work for.
All of the books were distributed with RwK bookmarks (below), and parents accompanying the children were told about the many benefits of reading with their children, particularly in the prenatal period. AEE president Dr. Joe Abraham explained to the attendees, “When I talk with parents who have read to their children beginning in pregnancy, most of them say that their children taught themselves to read even before they started kindergarten.”
RwK will be distributing more books at upcoming events, and will be encouraging more parents to read with their children frequently, from pregnancy and throughout childhood.
