by Rachel Witkowski
Staff Writer
Thousands of children in Jacksonville will receive their first book this week after the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation and First Book combined to donate more than 100,000 new children’s books to low income families.
Chair and CEO of the Jaguar Foundation Delores Barr Weaver and Mayor John Peyton launched the distribution Tuesday at Alltel Stadium. Children selected by the Jacksonville Children’s Commission lined the front rows to hear stories and be entertained by members of the Roar and Jaxson de Ville.
“This is a meaningful way to make a big difference,” said Peyton. “It’s a great crime fighter, it’s a great economy builder and it’s a great community builder.”
The books will be distributed to various organizations including the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida, the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation and Communities in Schools of Jacksonville. It is the third year the Jaguars Foundation has collaborated with non-profit First Book to donate more than 325,000 children’s books since the initiative began. In 2005, the Foundation donated 100,000 children’s books during the Super Bowl and sent 39,000 books to each contending community, said Weaver. But this is the first year that an additional 5,000 books will go toward middle school and high school students, according to Peter Racine, executive director for the Jaguars Foundation.
“A lot of homes don’t get any books at all,” said Racine. “I think it’s great to get books in the kids’ homes.”
Many of the books also came in hard cover from the 2006 donations, including a children’s book by Jay Leno and books by Judy Blume. Organizations such as the United Way of Northeast Florida, Gate Petroleum, CSX Transportation and Merrill Lynch helped sponsor the “Touchdown For Reading.” And publishers Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, HarperCollins Children’s Books and YES Solutions provided the books. Weaver said she was very pleased to see the outcome of sponsorship and hopes that more organizations will donate in the future.
“It’s probably one of the very first books they will have to call their own,” she said. “I don’t think anything is more important than our children’s literacy.”