My Nonprofit Reviews
murielfeld
Review for Books for Kids Foundation, Astoria, NY, USA
In 1996, my husband, a retired Elementary School Principal and I, a retired School Library Teacher, both volunteered to help the Books for Kids Foundation. We were very impressed with their mission statement that would help children in under-served areas. We were excited to support their efforts to fashion small library centers that would have a staying power and serve children in low income areas in and around New York City where these youngsters could become inspired readers. We set up 15 small libraries with storytelling corners which included a rocking chair, area rug, puppets, posters and hard covered first rate children's books. We continue to visit several of the libraries and work with the staff members by working on Author Studies as well as follow-up activities for many of the books. We have been able to invite authors and book illustrators to share their talents with us. As The New Yorker of the Week in 2005 I was able to proudly be interviewed at one of our Books for Kids Libraries which attracted much attention. We have a hard working, forward looking Director whose mission is to find a surefire way to bring the love of reading to all children. The motto of this wonderful non-profit organization might well be, "One library at a time, we are always growing."
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I have seen the overwhelming response from the staff and children when they enter their library. Each center has a dedicated Director and staff eager to support our efforts. The foundation has created libraries that make a significant contribution to the communities they service. Parents are so impressed with the libraries that they consider this when registering their children to the various sites.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
seek, in this difficult economy, to double efforts to raise the money needed to support this worthy foundation. Seeing first hand all the benefits that Books for Kids offers to so many youngsters, I would try to reach out to many more people so that we could restock and keep our beautiful libraries up to date with all of the latest books.
What one change could this group make that would improve your volunteer experience?
I would say that the biggest challenge facing this organization is gaining more support and contributions to keep the foundation growing and current. We must work hard to improve and support our current libraries and create additional funding for new books and materials.
Did your volunteer experience have an effect on you? (teaching you a new skill, or introducing new friends, etc.)
I would like to say THANK YOU to Books for Kids, who through their commitment, support and encouragement have inspired us to volunteer our help over the years. We have seen your growth as an organization and are proud to be a part of a very worthy foundation.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
