On Monday, June 12, 2023, 17 volunteers from the WeLoveU Foundation gathered at Vernon Hill Elementary School to donate 1,017 books to 470 children in grades pre-kindergarten to sixth grade in partnership with Senators Michael O. Moore and Robyn K. Kennedy.

The book donation event was held to encourage summer reading. Studies show that 61% of America’s low-income families don’t have books at home and that if students are not proficient in reading by the fourth grade, there is a 78% chance of not catching up. As students arrived Monday morning to greet their last week of the school year, the WeLoveU volunteers worked hard in the library preparing for the event. The volunteers arrived at 6:45 a.m. to create book displays for the students to take home.

Once the school day began, the students lined up grade by grade to visit the library. The second-grade students, who arrived first, were greeted by the volunteers’ bright smiles and quickly gathered around Senators Kennedy and Moore, who each read a storybook to the children. Throughout the event, 284 children heard “The Giving Tree,” “Lamb-A-Roo,” and “The Wonderful Things You Will Be.” After the read-aloud, the students browsed over 1,200 books, each choosing one to two books to keep. The students grinned and hugged their books with excitement for the summer reading to come.

“Having the opportunity to share the joy of reading with students at Vernon Hill Elementary School was such a pleasure. Ensuring kids have the resources to become great readers early in their education is critical to setting them up for a lifetime of learning. Thank you so much to WeLoveU for organizing this book drive for kids who might not otherwise have access to these wonderful stories,” stated Senator Moore.

“I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to the volunteers around the state who came to our community to bring these books to help our young people,” said Senator Kennedy. “As you can hear, they are very excited to be participating. Giving our young people the tools they need is incredibly important because young people are the future of our community. We’re incredibly grateful for you taking your time to make sure that they’re set up for success.”

Through this book donation event, WeLoveU works toward Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 10, Quality Education and Reduced Inequalities. Providing various books, WeLoveU aims to close the literacy and achievement gap. WeLoveU is looking forward to achieving quality education for all.