WEST HARTFORD, CONN. (December 29, 2017) – Thanks to the many generous donors who supported the Fourth Annual Greater Hartford Holiday Book Drive, at-risk students across Greater Hartford will have brand new books to call their own. The drive collected more than 3,000 new and used books and over $1,100 in monetary donations.

“During this year’s drive, we collected more than double the number of books donated last year,” said Bennett Forrest of The Miale Team at Keller Williams Realty, who led the effort. “The generosity of our community is really breathtaking.”

The Holiday Book Drive is a joint effort of Children's Reading Partners, Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and the West Hartford Rotary Club. The 2017 drive ran from November 27 through December 18. Five drop-off locations participated, including Keller Williams Realty, Beth El Temple, Beth Sholom B'nai Israel, Congregation Beth Israel and The Emanuel Synagogue. Three additional organizations - the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy, the Mandell JCC Early Childhood Center and Hoffman SummerWood - donated books.

“Teachers at the schools we serve have told us that many of their students don’t own a single book,” says Alana Butler, Director of Children’s Reading Partners, which pairs volunteers with at-risk students for weekly, one-on-one reading sessions. “The Holiday Book Drive puts books into the hands of these children and their families and helps reinforce the literacy skills they learn at school.”

All donated books will be given to students who attend Children’s Reading Partners’ participating preschools and elementary schools in Hartford, Bloomfield, East Hartford, New Britain, Manchester and West Hartford, and to children who participate in literacy programs offered by its partner organizations, The Scribe’s Institute and Mega Education. Financial contributions will be used to buy additional new books for students to read, keep and love.

Children’s Reading Partners is part of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. To learn more or to get involved, click here or contact Alana Butler at READ@jewishhartford.org or 860.236.READ (7323).

Photo caption: A local student and her Children’s Reading Partners mentor work on literacy skills. The Fourth Annual Greater Hartford Holiday Book Drive – a joint effort of Children’s Reading Partners, Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and the West Hartford Rotary Club – collected more than 3,000 new and used books that will be distributed to at-risk students.