Books for Life Program...

Friday..

We're trying hard at F-to-F to get books to all of our impoverished communities...here's a description of the program we're working on: if anyone out there wants to help...contribute..contact us @ famtofamily@aol.com.

Books for Life — Books Collected and Donated to Communities in Need
For families struggling to put food on the table, books are an unaffordable luxury. And in many of our F-to-F communities, the nearest library is hours away. So if you have shelves full of books you no longer look at, or that your children have outgrown, consider sending them to one of our communities, where they will enrich lives as they encourage a love of reading and learning.
Contact Family-to-Family at LongIslandFtoF@optonline.net and we will give you the name and address of an outreach worker in one of our communities where you can ship the books. Some outreach centers have set up lending libraries in extra rooms (or closets) for donated books. Some distribute the books at home visits, or when the families come to pick up their food boxes.
You can send your own books, or collect books from neighbors.
You can organize a book drive through your local school.
Ask your local book store, or library, to donate books.
Put an ad in your neighborhood paper asking for book donations.
BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR BOOKS BE SURE TO EMAIL US AT LongIslandFtoF@optonline.net, AND LET US KNOW HOW MANY BOOKS YOU’RE SENDING, AND WHAT CATEGORIES OF BOOKS THEY ARE. HELP US KEEP TRACK OF WHAT BOOKS ARE BEING SENT WHERE!
You may want to raise money to pay for the cost of shipping the books. You can ask the individuals or businesses donating the books to each contribute a few dollars, or you can go to a local business that has a shipping department, and ask if they would be willing to pay for the shipping of your boxes as an in-kind contribution. Or perhaps your kids would want to join in the effort and help raise the money with bake sales or a yard sale. Note that the U.S. Postal Service has a book rate, which is significantly cheaper than sending a 1st-class package..
Remember, the books you send can look used, but shouldn’t be dirty or falling apart. And not every single book will be useful – so we’ve included a list of the best kinds of books to send.
USEFUL BOOKS TO SEND
ADULT
Novels
History/Politics
Parenting
Diet/Health/Fitness
Cookbooks
Nature/Gardening
First Aid/Medical Reference
Dictionaries and Thesaurus
Other Reference Books
Art
Inspirational/Motivational
Self-improvement
How-To – Crafts, Sewing, Home Improvement<
Love/Sex
Addiction/Recovery
Children
Baby (soft, chewable)
Toddler (board books)
Picture Books
First Readers
Chapter Books
Teen Non-fiction
Teen Fiction (not too racy, please)
Brain Quests and Flash Cards
Workbooks
Dictionaries
Children’s Videos
HERE ARE A FEW OF THE COMMENTS WE’VE GOTTEN FROM THE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED BOOKS.
“The books are wonderful! The children are especially enjoying the Dr. Seuss books. When they come into the pantry with their parents, they sit down and look at them and when they are ready to leave, I let them pick one out to keep. Our women are especially interested in recipe books and many ranchers like to read westerns in the winter. We are just grateful for all you have sent.” “What a pleasant surprise to receive the books you sent. Actually, they couldn't have come at a better time. Kids and teachers need a little extra motivation as the year winds down. You sent enough Goosebumps books to make a whole class of 6th graders very happy. They selected their own and some delved right into them!”
“The books have been wonderful. We give them out on home visits. This helps the visiting teachers, visiting nurses, and home health care visitors grow closer in the relationships in the homes. Also many have been added to our library for people to come in and check out. This also gives the parents something for their children to do if they want to work on the computers or have an appointment.”
"Your shipment of books has been wonderful. Thank you so very much. The children's selection is especially popular...What a blessing your gift of books is!"