Right now, 70,000 books are on their way to Guatemala. This is the latest in a series of deliveries that Child Aid has made possible through its partnership with Scholastic books, and thanks to the generous donations of thousands of donors.
Watch the video and see just how much went in to hitting this amazing milestone.
And then visit here to learn about how you can support Child Aid reaching our next big milestone!
A little more about this milestone:
In this shipment is a very special book, it is the 1,000,000th book, marking a milestone decades in the making. To celebrate, we wanted to pause and look back at what it has taken to get to this point. From the staff that selects the titles and negotiates their purchase and transportation to Guatemala, to the team waiting to receive them, this journey is logistical feat – from crates, to cargo ships and customs, just getting the books to our Guatemala offices is a Herculean task!
Once these books have made it to Child Aid’s four regional offices, they are sorted, labeled and packed up for school delivery. Our staff makes sure that the books being delivered are age appropriate, cover a wide variety of topics, and complement the programming that teachers are learning in their teacher training workshops. They have this down to a science, they sort, select and stack books, getting them ready for their new homes.
The boxes of books, along with new bookshelves to house them are packed up in trucks and in some cases on boats to be delivered to over one hundred schools that are anxiously awaiting their arrival. The drives are scheduled, and the community gathers to help unload the books upon arrival. It is a labor of love – and so much fun!
And this year, it is even more special, knowing that this year’s delivery helps us hit that magical number – 1,000,000! To kick it off this celebration we made this video we hope shows just how much hard work and dedication has gone into making this program a success.
This is just the beginning, we are planning some fun celebrations and events to mark this milestone as an organization. Visit our millionth book webpage, and follow along on social media as we celebrate this milestone and look forward to the next one – because while 1 Million is amazing… just imagine what 2 will feel like!