Books on Bases Program Overview
Purpose
Books on Bases, Smiles on Faces is a program presented by Blue Star Families in conjunction with Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.). The goal of this program is to have a positive impact on children from military families through book donation. Blue Star Families will present books provided by K.I.D.S. to base libraries, Department of Defense schools, and military-impacted public schools.
Who We Are
Blue Star Families is a bridge between military families, the shapers of policy affecting military life, and the nation. Our members are military spouses, parents, and families from all branches of service, including National Guard and Reserve. The American military is the most diverse on the planet and our members are equally diverse. Our members are of every age, race, sex, religion, political affiliation and service member rank. Blue Star Families seeks to connect, support and empower military families by offering solutions that make military family life more sustainable.
The Program
On September 10th, 2009, Blue Star Families and K.I.D.S launched the National Books on Bases, Smiles on Faces program with an event in Fayetteville, NC. The Ft. Bragg event included the distribution of approximately 4000 books to military base libraries as well as every DOD school in the state of NC and approximately 20 military impacted public schools in the local area. Children with parents serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard benefited from this significant donation to their schools and libraries. The educational impact of library donation is far greater than direct donation to children. These books will provide on-going support in the effort to promote literacy in America’s children.
Blue Star Families and K.I.D.S plan to distribute 10,000 books to military children in 2009. We will provide a turn-key event kit to our member chapters around the county that will empower Blue Star Families membership to bring the gift of books to their own community schools and libraries. Each chapter will select a minimum of 5 local military impacted public schools to receive the books. The average donation to each library is between 50-100 books. In 2010 our goal is to distribute 25,000 books, 30,000 in 2011, and 35,000 in 2012 to reach our goal of providing 100,000 books to military children.
