Detroit, U.S.A. — At their national convention this weekend in Detroit, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced a major expansion of their ongoing partnership with First Book, a nonprofit that provides new books to kids in need.

First Book and the AFT have completed successful pilot projects together in over 20 cities across the country, putting nearly 250,000 new books into the hands of children from low-income families. At the convention, AFT president Randi Weingarten challenged the assembled educators to distribute five million new books over the next year.

“AFT members and affiliates have already ensured that thousands of children have books at home that they otherwise would not have had,” said Weingarten. “Having books of their own can open children’s minds to learning and literature, and introduce them to worlds beyond their own. This is our new challenge. I am calling on AFT members to partner with First Book to distribute five million new books this year to students in need.”

First Book works with the publishing industry to provide millions of new books each year to schools and programs serving kids in need, for free or at low cost. By working with the AFT, one of the nation’s largest unions of teachers and educators, First Book is able to reach thousands more Title I schools that are badly in need of quality books and educational resources.

“Teachers understand the importance of books and reading better than anyone,” said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book. “Without an ongoing supply of quality books, children miss out on the chance to become strong readers and successful students.”

“By working with our friends in the AFT, we’re able to reach thousands more schools serving kids in need,” Zimmer said. “The dedication of these educators is inspiring. Everyone at First Book is proud to be able to help them make a difference in their students’ lives.”

Any teachers, librarians or school staff working with children from low-income families can sign up with First Book to access a steady stream of new, quality books.

Image Courtesy of  Dmitry Berkut / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. – After more than fourteen years implementing life-saving projects of health and HIV/AIDS, food security/agriculture, water/sanitations, education and disaster relief in the Dominican Republic’s impoverished and vulnerable sugarcane plantations rural “batey” communities and Haiti’s isolated border regions, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) now seeks to climb some of the highest mountains of Peru to save children in desperate living conditions.

Up at 16,000 feet in Peru’s Andes mountains native families must survive below-freezing temperatures and the lack of access to adequate supplies of food, clothing, shelter or basic medical services, essential medicines and antibiotics. In Puno – the capital of Puno Region and Puno Province, a city of more than 100,000 people on the shores of Lake Titicaca in southeastern Peru, local inhabitants are horribly poverty-stricken. The local economy is based on agriculture and cattle raising.  Unfortunately, both of these ventures present major obstacles and offer few rewards to those pursuing them. Illiteracy is as high as 22%, especially among women. Diseases, hunger and malnutrition are related to extreme poverty, lack of clean water and sanitation infrastructures.

In response to this crisis affecting the health and growth of children in these mountain villages, BRA has joined hands with its partners to deliver emergency medical/dental assistance and launch a new Child’s Health project involving the application of doses of multivitamins and deworming medicines to more than 500 children and pregnant women who are nutritionally at risk. Future BRA projects will involve general health, food security and education.

For more information on BRA’s humanitarian work in Peru, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, visit our website and donate online at www.bateyrelief.org.

For regular updates, follow/like on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Batey.Relief.Alliance) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/bateyrelief).

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