Stuff The Bus book drive aims to help students read by third grade. | education-connection.org
Stuff The Bus book drive aims to help students read by third grade. | education-connection.org
The United Way of Central Iowa stuffed a bus with more than 23,000 books at a book drive Sept. 15.
Individual contributors and employees from 22 central Iowa institutions participated in the book drive, according to Athene USA, an insurance company based in West Des Moines. New and gently used books will benefit almost 90 community affiliates of the United Way of Central Iowa that offer child-serving or childcare programs in counties such as Polk, Warren and Dallas.
“The thousands of books we collected through Stuff the Bus are critical in helping children throughout central Iowa succeed,” Elisabeth Buck, president of United Way of Central Iowa, said in a release. “Before the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of children in families with low income did not own or have access to children’s books. Having access to books is key to helping all kids get the early start they need to learn how to read, and ultimately, to graduate from high school.”
The Stuff The Bus book drive is a part of the Read To Succeed campaign that encourages the community to help students read by third grade. The event is usually held in the spring, but due to COVID-19, it was postponed until June 21, the United Way Day of Action.
This year, Athene USA was joined by electronic financial transactions company SHAZAM in sponsoring the event. More than 18,000 books were donated by Athene USA employees and 2,212 books were collected by SHAZAM for the book drive.
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