BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — In May 2022, Books and a Blanket merged with United Way of the Brazos Valley's Early Literacy Program to increase access to literature in the community and prepare students for the school year.
With a staggering number of fourth graders from low-income families unable to read on-level with their peers, these two organizations are putting on an event alongside Twin Oaks Landfill and the cities of Bryan and College Station to help combat this issue.
“If you look at the children in poverty numbers, its in the low 20% which really isn't a great thing." explained United Way of the Brazos Valley CEO Peggi Goss. "Each of the counties surrounding us are in the low 20s as well. We’re a little bit high than the state average here in the Brazos Valley so I think its really important to recognize that the inflation that’s happening now is really significantly impacting those children in poverty.”
These trends are especially important in states like Texas where the majority of elementary school children come from low income families
“So the kids can choose 5 books and one blanket and typically the giveaways happen in November/December and kind of early in the spring semester. So now we’re in that time of the year where we’re building for the books so we’re trying to build our inventory so we can give it out during the school year,” said Goss.
In 2022, the campaign was a successful one, and the organization hopes to provide even more for students.
“Just with the Books and a Blanket program we gave over 17,000 books away in the last school year and over 3,000 blankets," said Goss. "So quite a few of these sponsors stepped up, businesses in the area. Amazon helped with the blankets, half-priced books does a lot of book donations to us, and of course the community blesses us with books every time we do a book drive.”
The Books and a Blanket Drive will be on Saturday, April 22 at the household hazardous waste event at Texas A&M's University Services Building.