What a mountain of donated books! It is so heartening to go into the classrooms where the three 1000X5 projects sort, clean, package and send out books for babies and preschoolers.  Volunteers from the Peninsula, Victoria and Westshore projects are always delighted to see the new boxes that have arrived from the many school where families donate books. It is a treat to get to work preparing them to go out the door and into the hands of wee ones.

And what a lot we accomplish in the 2-3 hours of cheerful labeling and gift bagging. Among the three projects we send out over 1000 books each week.  The gift of 3 age appropriate clean and gift wrapped books goes to over 330 children per week.

Do we make a difference? There are many homes within the Capital Regional District that do not have the resources to buy books for their little ones. 1000X5 donations fill a vital gap. Families and the agencies with whom they work tell us that often these are the only books that families obtain for their babies and preschoolers. Over the course of 10 months an individual child may receive between 20-30 books. That creates a wonderful home library from which to select a book and cuddle up to read. And then another one.

This is a sample of the many thank you notes from the 48 participating agencies across the Capital Regional District which distribute the 1000X5 books to families with young children…