STATE COLLEGE — Leaders from the Pennsylvania Key Club — which has more than 12,000 youth members in Pennsylvania – recently teamed up with The LiTEArary Society, the world’s largest entirely youth-led nonprofit with the mission of ending book deserts, to bring the gift of reading to Head Start children in Pennsylvania,
This kicked off a statewide initiative to end book deserts for disadvantaged preschoolers ages 3-5.
Heidi Egerer, District Governor of Pennsylvania Key Club and a senior at State College Area High School, along with other officers are making a lasting impact in the community. Egerer and others on Nov. 17 surprised Head Start classrooms in Grays Woods Elementary in Port Matilda and Ferguson Elementary in Pine Grove Mills with brand new Elephant and Piggie books by celebrated author Mo Willems — one for each child to take home, as their very own “keeper books. The books were donated by the LiTEArary Society.
“As Governor of Pennsylvania Key Club, I wanted to choose a statewide project that reflects the mission of Key Club which is service. We have over 12,000 members in our state and today’s events are the kick off events that will be followed with events like this around the state, throughout the school year,” Egerer said in a statement.
“Through our partnership with The LiTEArary Society, our goal is to donate a brand new, best-loved book to every single child In Pennsylvania Head Start to inspire the love of reading among preschoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds and collectively come together to end book deserts for children just beginning their reading journey.”
The Key Club leaders also spent time engaging with the children, making this a truly unforgettable experience for both the children and the volunteers. Representatives from local nonprofit CenClear were present to receive the Key Club team.
These kickoff events were followed by similar events around the state aimed at ending book deserts for disadvantaged preschoolers through donations of brand-new books. The goal of the initiative is to provide every child in PA Head Start with a brand-new book to take home, fostering early literacy, sparking imaginations, and encouraging a lifelong love of reading.
The LiTEArary Society is an entirely youth-led, nationally recognized nonprofit with a mission to provide high-quality, new books for children in need, and has joined forces with the PA Key Club, an organization of young leaders who are passionate about community service.
Rania Zuri, founder and CEO of The LiTEArary Society and a current sophomore at Stanford, said, “This collaborative effort highlights the power of youth-led initiatives and demonstrates how young people can create meaningful change in their communities. By addressing the critical issue of book deserts and the effect on disadvantaged preschoolers, our partnership with Pennsylvania Key Club aims to give children in Pennsylvania Head Start the opportunity to develop a lifelong love of reading from an early age and receive a brand new book of their very own to take home.”
The LiTEArary Society has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, The Kelly Clarkson Show (2x), NPR and in Forbes, Teen Vogue and more. To date, the organization has donated more than $1 million worth of new books to children in Head Start in all 50 states.
