This past week, the ABC News 5 Cleveland team out of Cleveland, OH featured a segment on their show that epitomizes why we do what we do. They open the exclusive segment with a staggering statistic….Nearly 66% of Cleveland residents are “functionally illiterate.”
This means that reading something as simple as a medicine bottle can be a challenge. And if adults are having a hard time reading, this can only mean that children will have a hard time reading as well.
Worse yet, 2 out of 3 low-income children in Cleveland (and likely many cities in the U.S.) don’t own a single book.
But there is hope!….Queue our INCREDIBLE partner, The Cleveland Book Bank, and the good work that they do. We are fortunate enough to get to be a part of the process at the Cleveland Book Bank and supply roughly 95% of all of the books that they donate…and it’s a lot of books. These books are carefully sorted and handed out to children for free so that they can begin developing their literacy skills!
This is absolutely the reason why Discover Books does what we do. Literacy is SO important and in order to read, you need to have books!
Watch the full video now and don’t forget, DONATE, DONATE, DONATE!! You can donate to the Cleveland Book Bank directly if you live in the area. If not, you can click here to find the closest Discover Books drop box to your location and trust that we will make sure the books find a new home and a loving family that will #letthestoriesliveon.