More than 200 books were given away at the Baila Con Dover/Hispanic Festival! Everyone was so happy and surprised to receive books from South Africa, parents were very open and responisve to the call to read with their children on a regular basis, some sat down and read the stories to them right there! It was a very well attended event. We provided a space to color and read. Families in attendance were mostly Hispanic.
The books have arrived and although we had to push back the distribution event to October, we have started distributing at community events. So far we have distributed 120 books! First, we diatributed at the Milford Farmer's Market. We also distributed at a local food pantry. We provided coloring pages at both locations.
There will be a community event Sept. 6th where (if we get the printing done in time) will be addressing literacy and a first round of distribution. We have a special event coming October 5th in BRIGHTWAY!
Wooohooo! Books are off the printer and will be in process this Monday! We will be contacting the administration to set the day for the Brightway Commons distribution event. We will be partnering with Read Aloud Delaware, Delaware Readiness Teams, Rodel, and others... it will be fun!
We have a printer!!!! We are going to be moving forward soon!!! We are excited! The costs to print locally will unfortunately eat up most of the budget. We are hoping to get a sponsor or two for some distribution events :) It will be fun!
Action plan:
Timeline: Late August, early September. Date is dependent on the printer's turn around. We would like it to be before the school year begins in mid September.
Budget: Printing costs have come in very high. It is looking like 75% - 85% of the grant will go toward printing alone. The remainder would go toward a kick off event in the community and promotion costs.
Impact: We are focusing on economically challenged communities. Brightway Commons, specifically has experienced violence recently. We believe this event and the gift of books will be a much needed bright light during this dark time. Some of these families lack transportation to visit our local library and the means to purchase books (there are no bookstores in our area).
Location: We will be focusing on three cities. Our main event will be in Milford, Delaware, in the Brightway Commons Community. We will also be joining a back to school book bag giveaway event in Seaford, Delaware. Our third location will be Georgetown, Delaware. Lastly, (if we are able to have the books by August 31st) we will distribute books at the Hispanic Organization of Latin Americans at their "Baila con Dover" event (which is open to the whole community and beyond). Seaford's event will be focusing on the Haitian immigrant community as well as African American families. In Georgetown, there is a large Hispanic (Central American) Immigrant community we will reach. The Dover distribution will heavily be attended by Hispanic families but will have the whole community present, as well. We will be partnering with several other organizations in these towns to distribute
