AFT seeks volunteers for May 17 book event in Seattle

The following is from AFT Washington:

SEATTLE (Mar. 14, 2014) — AFT Washington is excited about building bridges with our upcoming labor and community “Solidarity Event” on Saturday, May 17 at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. We hope you will be, too, and that you will help build community by volunteering.

We are pleased to be able to partner with a terrific national nonprofit called First Book to host AFT Washington Celebrates Books and Reading. Through this partnership, we will be able to purchase the books kids want to read for pennies on the dollar, including best-sellers, Newbery and Caldecott Award winners, and books in a variety of languages. We are expecting up to 500 children and their families. A minimum of two books will be given to each child at no cost. Because First Book’s mission is to provide access to new books for children in need, at least 70 percent of the children receiving books are in free and reduced school breakfast and lunch programs.

This event will include reading circles, a community resource fair with organizations such as Washington Bus for voter registration, the United Way, Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, Literacy Source and the Vietnamese Friendship Association, lunch and entertainment.

This is about something very simple but important: giving the gift of reading and learning to kids.

Why is this partnership and work so important, and why do we need your support? The research tells us that access to books is a primary factor in children learning to read and becoming lifelong learners. But in some neighborhoods, the average number of books in the home is only one for every 300 children. We want to change that.

To make this event a success, we need volunteers to hand books out to kids, help with lunches, set-up, registration, help families, and more. Please join with your union sisters and brothers to build bridges and support families. Click here to sign up as a volunteer.

For more information, email AFT Washington’s Sylvia Watson or call her at 206-242-4777 ext. 8084.