Jennifer is a role model to all who know her, including me. In this life, we learn that love is about actions, but few of us have the courage to completely live this ideal. Love is about service. Love is selfless. Jennifer is brilliant, and could easily have left a mark in the corporate publishing world - or in any industry. She chose to take a path of struggle, hard work, long hours, and little attention. She chose a path of service - of love. She is the very best of us - and she is someone you can be proud to support. She is what we all would be - if we had the courage :)
I am proud to be on the board of Bess the Book Bus. Bess is a non-profit mobile literacy outreach dedicated to getting books into the households of children who would otherwise go without. There is ample research that shows kids without books in the home are significantly more likely to spend their entire lives below the poverty line. This organization is staffed by ONE person, the visionary and founder, Jennifer Frances. Jennifer has build this organization based on a strong desire to build a love of reading in children similar to the one her grandmother, Bess, gave to her. Bess is based in Tampa, FL but is on the road across the United States annually. In 2011 she placed over 50,000 books into the hands of children in over 20 states. Her budget is minimal and focuses on maintaining the bus and keeping it fueled (the major expense). When you factor in the in-kind book donations along with those purchased, Bess distributed over $2M in product last year. It is difficult to really explain the magical quality that Bess has in these kids' lives... they light up when the bus pulls up and they are allowed to climb aboard and select their very own book. Jennifer also conducts 'read alouds' with the kids as part of her program... and the kids love it because she approaches her reading from the perspective of the child that is listening... she really understands them. You can experience Bess by going to her web site: bessthebookbus.org. This is one organization that you can have confidence is focused on the bottom line... helping children explore the world between the covers of a book.