FORT MYERS, Fla. — In September, FOX 4 staff and viewers collected over $12,000 as part of our annual "If You Give A Child a Book" campaign.
Tuesday, FOX 4 put that money to use, holiding a special book fair at Villas Elementary School in Fort Myers, in conjunction with Scholastic Books. Students will be able to take home their choice of books to take home, absolutely free of charge.
During our hours there, anchors Amy Wegmann and Trent Aric read to groups of students and helped each child select not one but two books to keep.
Nationally, the "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign raised $861,000 last year, which will result in more than 207,000 new books going into the hands of students. That will generate about 37 million reading minutes.
The campaign, a national effort of the Scripps Howard Foundation and Scripps TV stations, places a special focus on the critical kindergarten through third grade years when children are still learning to read. For this age group, there is no replacement for beloved books that a child can return to over and over.
And you can still donate to our fundraising campaign as we jump-start next year's distribution.
