Fight Poverty

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Support Reach Out and Read

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Deploy books to build strong brains.

Join thousands of families nationwide and support programs right in your community by donating books (both new and gently-used), improving literacy-rich waiting rooms, and reading aloud to children at select program sites.

Potential Recipients

Support your local Reach Out and Read affiliate or the national Reach Out and Read program.

What you’ll need

  • Art supplies: Crayons or colored pencils, scissors, clear packing, and tape or laminating paper

Instructions

Learn more about Reach Out and Read!

Your family can support Reach Out and Read in lots of fun ways!

  • Host a virtual book drive (they make it easy!) and build a book oasis.

  • Host a gently-used book drive (as local pandemic conditions allow).

  • Volunteer directly as local opportunities become available.

Reflection

  • In high-poverty communities in the U.S., there is only one book for every 300 children. (In higher-income neighborhoods, there are about 13 books for every child.) Does your family have access to good picture books and chapter books?

  • Is there a favorite book or series you feel especially grateful for?

  • Do you have a favorite reading spot at home? If so, talk about a time when you read there recently. If not, talk about what your dream book oasis might look and feel like.

Resources

Take it further

  • Donate favorite books to a local shelter or children’s hospital.

  • Host a book drive for a shelter or organization in need.

  • Volunteer to read to seniors at a nearby nursing home.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

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Plant a Row for the Hungry

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Dedicate a row of your garden to a local food shelf.

Everyone enjoys fresh produce. Help struggling families in your community by sharing your bounty. 

Possible Recipients

Your local food pantry, soup kitchen, or deserving neighbors and friends. Learn more about the Garden Writer’s Association Plant a Row for the Hungry initiative.

What you’ll need

  • A garden

  • A bag or box to carry your freshly picked goods

  • Optional: card-making materials

Instructions

  • Call your local food pantry or soup kitchen to make sure they can accept your donation. AmpleHarvest.org offers a simple tool to find the nearest food pantry.

  • Plant one row in your garden that you plan to donate.

  • When it’s ready, harvest your produce.

  • If you’d like, attach a card saying something like, “From the garden of ___“ or “Fresh to you! Enjoy!”

  • Deliver to the nonprofit or to a friend or neighbor in need. If you choose a food pantry, ask about getting a tour.

Reflections

  • Why is it important to eat fresh fruits and vegetables?

  • Why might it be difficult for those with limited resources to get fresh produce?

  • How would it feel if you had to get your food from a food pantry?

  • What other ways can you share healthy, fresh foods with others?

Resources

Take it further

  • If you don’t have room to garden in your backyard, reserve a plot in a community garden. Get to know your neighbors and share your harvest!

  • If there’s not a community garden nearby, start your own. Get neighbors and friends to join in.

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Assemble Literacy Kits

Donate literacy kits to feed hungry minds.

Assemble literacy kits to ensure school-age children are set up for academic success.

Potential Recipients

Connect with a local organization that supports literacy, works with immigrants and refugees, or works with unhoused families. Lots of organizations are excited to receive a donation of literacy kits!

Before your start, reach out and ask what their needs are. Your organization may add to the list of essential items below.

What you’ll need

  • Stationery

  • Pens, crayons, or markers

  • Gallon-sized resealable plastic bags or small canvas bags you can decorate.

  • Permanent markers or fabric markers to decorate your choice of bag.

  • Essentials

Essential Items You Might Include in Each Kit

  • Composition notebook, with or without drawing space

  • Pencils

  • Erasers

  • New or gently used book

Instructions

  • Create cheerful cards of encouragement for each kit.

  • Fill each decorated plastic or fabric bag with the items you’ve gathered.

  • Drop off your donations together.

Reflect Together

  • What do you love most about reading?

  • Can you name a favorite book or two? A favorite character or two?

  • How could you persuade someone who doesn't love to read to try your favorite book?

  • Do you like to visit the public library?

  • Do you think it's important to make books available, for free, to everyone? Why or why not?

Resources

A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader edited by Maria Papova and Claudia Bedrick
Perfect for book lovers ages 10 and up, this collection of deliciously inspiring essays features writers from Neil Gaiman and Jane Goodall to Rebecca Solnit and Regina Specktor.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
This whimsical, reality-bending book is full of food for thought. It even inspired an Academy Award-winning short film.

Take it further

  • Add kits to a Little Free Library.

  • Host a book drive and assemble literacy kits to include with your book donations.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.