THE PRESENT:
BookEnds, a non-profit organization based in Southern California, is about the promise and the power of our children. The promise of the potential that an educated population brings to our future and the power of our children to become community leaders having experienced their ability to make a difference.
THE PAST:
Established in 1998 by an eight year-old boy, BookEnds has donated more than two million books to engage 500,000 students in the joy and imagination of reading.
Eight year old Brandon, home from school with a cold, tagged along with his mom, Robin Keefe, to a Board of Directors meeting at Hollygrove Children's Home, where he half-listened to the adults' discussion of how to build a library for the more than 60 kids who lived there. The adults listed a litany of obstacles to creating a library. Brandon, without saying anything to his mom, was already thinking of his own solution.
The next day, Brandon told his third grade classmates that "My mom's orphanage needs books! Everybody has books on their shelves that they've outgrown. Why not give the great ones we've already read to kids who need them?"
On the last day of school before winter vacation, Brandon waited eagerly for his mom to pick him up so he could surprise her with the books. As Robin drove up the school driveway, a grinning Brandon stood on the sidewalk surrounded by hundreds of books and exclaimed, "Merry Christmas, Mom!"
There were more books than Hollygrove needed so Robin began to knock on doors to see who could best use these books. This is when her education began. She had assumed that it was unusual for a child not to grow up surrounded by the joy and enchantment of reading. She found that in so many neighborhoods books were considered a luxury, and children lived without them.
THE FUTURE:
We are excited to announce that the BookEnds BookDrives are now the Milk+Bookies Leaders+Readers BookDrive. Visit their site here!
Children need books to learn to read.
Children collect books to learn to lead.
BookEnds, a non-profit organization based in Southern California, is about the promise and the power of our children. The promise of the potential that an educated population brings to our future and the power of our children to become community leaders having experienced their ability to make a difference.
THE PAST:
Established in 1998 by an eight year-old boy, BookEnds has donated more than two million books to engage 500,000 students in the joy and imagination of reading.
Eight year old Brandon, home from school with a cold, tagged along with his mom, Robin Keefe, to a Board of Directors meeting at Hollygrove Children's Home, where he half-listened to the adults' discussion of how to build a library for the more than 60 kids who lived there. The adults listed a litany of obstacles to creating a library. Brandon, without saying anything to his mom, was already thinking of his own solution.
The next day, Brandon told his third grade classmates that "My mom's orphanage needs books! Everybody has books on their shelves that they've outgrown. Why not give the great ones we've already read to kids who need them?"
On the last day of school before winter vacation, Brandon waited eagerly for his mom to pick him up so he could surprise her with the books. As Robin drove up the school driveway, a grinning Brandon stood on the sidewalk surrounded by hundreds of books and exclaimed, "Merry Christmas, Mom!"
There were more books than Hollygrove needed so Robin began to knock on doors to see who could best use these books. This is when her education began. She had assumed that it was unusual for a child not to grow up surrounded by the joy and enchantment of reading. She found that in so many neighborhoods books were considered a luxury, and children lived without them.
THE FUTURE:
We are excited to announce that the BookEnds BookDrives are now the Milk+Bookies Leaders+Readers BookDrive. Visit their site here!
Children need books to learn to read.
Children collect books to learn to lead.
