OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Volunteers honored MLK Day by packing 8,000 books for 1,500+ Omaha elementary students. Partnership for Kids' Book Buddy program supports literacy.
- Last year in Nebraska, nearly 25,000 students in kindergarten through third grade were identified as needing additional reading support.
- The books will be distributed to schools as early as next week.
- Video shows volunteers stamping, stacking and organizing books.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Volunteers honored Martin Luther King Jr. Day by packing 8,000 books that will soon reach more than 1,500 elementary school students at five Omaha Public Schools Title I schools in northeast and south Omaha.
The volunteer effort took place at Partnership for Kids downtown, where community members spent the day stamping, sorting and stacking books as part of the organization's Book Buddy program.
Last year in Nebraska, nearly 25,000 students in kindergarten through third grade were identified as needing additional reading support.
"It's foundational to everything else and student success," said Kelly Gomez Johnson, University of Nebraska at Omaha Department Chair of Teacher Education.
The Book Buddy program provides more than just books. Volunteers visit classrooms twice a month to read with students and serve as positive role models.
"So it is very important for them to have that opportunity to read during the school day and then to be able to read while they're at home with their family," said Joanne Poppleton, P4K senior program director.
Partnership for Kids works with children throughout their academic careers, from grade school through high school.
"And just serving kids, it's the biggest investment we can make in the little ones, so this is so important. Everything that Partnership for Kids does is so important," Gomez Johnson said.
The organization emphasizes that literacy extends beyond traditional reading.
"Lives are busy, but you know, literacy is beyond just books. It's, you know, the little things you do in the car. It's reading the lyrics of songs that you can see, you know, it's reading signs as you're going down the street so," Gomez Johnson said.
The books will be distributed to schools as early as next week.
