Online Book Drive Benefits At-Risk Students in Hartford Area Public Schools

West Hartford, Conn. (November 30, 2020) - Children’s Reading Partners, the Rotary Club of West Hartford, and The Miale Team at Keller Williams have joined forces for the seventh annual Greater Hartford Holiday Book Drive, which runs from November 30 through December 31. The drive will provide new books to preschool and elementary students who participate in Children’s Reading Partners’ volunteer literacy programs across the region.

“In our first six years, we collected and purchased more than 8,000 new and gently used books for kids in our programs,” said Bennett Forrest of The Miale Team, who chairs the drive. “This year, because of the pandemic, we’ve gone completely virtual. One hundred percent of online donations will go to buy new books for students in our programs. We’d like to raise at least $5,000 so we can purchase 1,000 books.”

“Many of the children in our programs don’t have many, or any, books at home,” added Children’s Reading Partners program coordinator Ronni Breiter. “Owning their own books – especially when they are learning part-time or full-time from home – gives them ownership of their reading skills,” she added.

Administered by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, Children’s Reading Partners serves at-risk public school students in Hartford, Bloomfield, East Hartford, New Britain, and West Hartford and provides summer reading enrichment programs for children of all reading abilities in Bloomfield and Hartford.

To donate to the Holiday Book Drive, visit bit.ly/2020HolidayBookDrive. To learn more about Children’s Reading Partners, visit www.childrensreadingpartners.org or visit @love4literacy on Facebook.

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About Children’s Reading Partners

Children’s Reading Partners is an initiative of the Jewish Community Relations Council, part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and an affiliate of the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy. Major grant funding is provided by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, SBM Charitable Foundation, the Jeffrey P. Ossen Family Foundation, People’s United Community Foundation, and George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation at Bank of America.