Twenty-five thousand at-risk children across the country received a free book this week to celebrate the 1 millionth book donated to the Scripps Howard Fund’s “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign. The Fund supports causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the communities it serves.
The Fund raised $1 million during its seventh annual childhood literacy campaign, which will provide 200,000 books for kids across the country. With the funds raised through this year’s campaign, the total number of distributed books since 2016 will surpass 1 million.
Donate to the Fund’s “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign.
The Fund announced the millionth book today, “Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea.” The book is the latest in the “Dog Man” series by author and illustrator Dav Pilkey.
Pilkey donated 25,000 copies of the millionth book to the Fund, which will be given to every first through sixth grade student in the Fund’s 77 partner Title 1 schools across the country.
“I’m honored that ’Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea’ is the 1 millionth book for the ‘If You Give a Child a Book …’ literacy campaign, and I am grateful to the Scripps Howard Fund and Scholastic for all their efforts in making this possible,” Pilkey said. “Growing up with reading challenges because of my dyslexia, I was fortunate to have parents who encouraged me to choose the books I wanted to read – books that made me laugh and motivated me to keep turning the page. This was life-changing and made me a lifelong reader and the writer I am today. My hope is that kids everywhere discover the joys of reading for fun.”
“We are delighted with this donation from beloved children’s author Dav Pilkey,” said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “Books are the building blocks of literacy and are essential for children to succeed. Thanks to Dav and our many donors for giving underserved children a chance to reach their full potential.”
Scripps’ local television stations and national networks partner with the Title 1 schools annually to reach underserved and vulnerable children living in poverty, with special attention to the critical kindergarten through third grade years when children are still learning to read. The Fund helps students build home libraries. Its goal is to give each student 10 age-appropriate and culturally relevant books per year. Ten is the number of books experts say children need annually to improve their reading skills.
Through the Fund’s partnership with Scholastic, book fairs are held annually January-May, giving children the power to choose their own free books.
Scripps’ audiences are invited to participate in this year’s fundraising campaign. You can learn more about the Fund’s mission and how to donate at www.ifyougiveabook.com.
