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Keeping Kids Reading: 1,416 Books Collected!

Jul 19, 2016

Jeunesse Kids Recap — June 2016

In June, our Jeunesse Kids Days focused on getting books into the hands of children. Every summer, children slide back in their reading skills because they aren’t reading. The children at highest risk of this “summer slide” are kids living in poverty, who lose approximately 2–3 months of reading during summer months, compared with middle class children who gain one month of reading skill level during the summer.1 Kids don’t need to be bookworms all summer: just reading four to six books during the summer is all it takes to prevent summer slide.2

Jeunesse Kids cares about helping kids succeed in life, and that means providing books to disadvantaged children. Jeunesse Kids conducted book drives at both Florida and Utah offices to benefit children and teens. Some employees purchased new books for the book drive, while others donated old favorites that their children had outgrown. By the end of the month, Jeunesse employees had donated 1,416 new or gently used books!

Employees at the World Headquarters in Lake Mary, Florida donated 547 books to the book drive, which was held from May 19–June 7. In addition, 13 employees volunteered in the evening to help sort these donated books at a Book Sorting Party (with four of the employees bringing their children to the event). United Way will distribute the books to children living in poverty.




In the Utah office, a book drive for Utahns Against Hunger was held June 1–27. By the end of the month, employees had donated 869 children’s books, (6.9 books per employee). These books were then packed into a heavily loaded pickup truck and taken to Utahns Against Hunger, where the books will be distributed to low-income kids and teens this summer at free lunch sites in the Salt Lake area.




“My daughter just graduated from high school, and she wanted to donate a lot of the books she loved as a teenager to give someone else a chance to enjoy them,” said Marie Grubaugh in Customer Support. “She tied them up in sets with green ribbons, and now she has empty shelves for her college books.”

Angela Connor from Help Desk/Research sorted through her daughter’s books to find some to pass along. “When I told her that we would be donating the books to kids that didn’t have access to them, she was thrilled that someone else may get to enjoy her books as much as she did. She jumped up and started helping me pick out the books that she thought someone else would really like to read. It warms my heart not only that she was so excited to give to others, but also that I work for a company like Jeunesse that really gets in there to help meet the needs of those in our community.”

Thanks to all who participated in the Jeunesse Kids book drives! Hundreds of generous employees contributed to this effort to get books into the hands of children this summer. Your generosity truly represents the Jeunesse Guiding Principle of having a servant’s heart.

1. Parents; Prevent Summer Slide. http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/prevent-summer-slide
2. Studies show that in low-income neighborhoods where more than half of school-age children qualify for free lunch, there is only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children. http://www.hfuw.org/day-of-action-book-drive/