Maw Books

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For those of you who have been with my blog longer than just the last three months already realize how much Darfur means to me.  During September, I organized the Reading and Blogging for Darfur campaign which raised funds and awareness about the current genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan.  That project is among one of the most important things that I felt I did this year.  I was touched by how much my fellow bloggers and book readers supported the project and learned how they could help.

I would now like to point your attention to an organization that is also helping Darfur refugees in Chad.  Book Wish Foundation is an organization that aims to provide reading relief by putting books into the hands of primary school, pre-school, or literacy program students in the refugee camps.  Books, libraries, reading glasses, and school supplies are all part of the project.

According to Book Wish Foundation:

Book Wish Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 26-1285319) with a mission to provide reading relief for people in crisis. In partnership with organizations that work on the ground in some of the most distressed places around the world, we support reading to improve education, mental health, and occupational training.

Reading relief is a concept much broader than providing books. It encompasses all of the aid for community institutions and individuals that makes reading possible. This includes, for example, support for libraries, schools, informal literacy and language programs, and vision care. To provide relief, this aid must match the specific needs that exist, which vary according to the crisis situation, culture, language, demographics, educational history, and aspirations of the people being served. These needs form the basis of the Wish Lists on our website, and provide an opportunity for highly targeted giving.

We focus on people in long-term crisis situations because they may face problems so grave that reading relief is not a major component of the aid they receive, although reading may have a great positive impact on their lives. Refugees, internally displaced people, school-aged children not in school, the homeless, the critically ill, and the desperately poor are among the populations we aim to reach.

Book Wish Foundation was formed in October 2007 by the mother-son team of bibliophiles Lorraine and Logan Kleinwaks, in response to a Washington Post article describing the lack of books in a refugee camp in Eastern Chad. We are staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers, and all money and goods donated for specific projects or Wish List items will be used only for those purposes. Incidental costs, such as for office supplies, are not funded through these targeted donations. Public documents of the Foundation are posted on our website and can conveniently be viewed here. A financial statement is available upon written request from the Office of Consumer Affairs of the State of Virginia, where we are registered to solicit charitable donations.

One of the reasons, I wanted to mention Book Wish Foundation was because of the creative post holiday campaign that they just launched:

We’ve just launched a (post-)holiday campaign to raise funds for library construction, English textbooks, and primary school textbooks for the Darfuris in the Bredjing, Treguine, and Gaga refugee camps in eastern Chad. Here’s how it works: we want you to count the books you received as presents this year and donate $1 per book. You can choose how the money is spent and read more details at holiday.bookwish.org.

A little bit always goes a long way.  We all love books.  We all asked for books for the holidays.  We gave books and we received books.  Now we can give just a little more.  My kids received at least 15 books for Christmas.  I will personally be donating $1 per book to the Book Wish Foundation.  If you feel you are able, I invite you to do the same.  Sadly, the genocide in Darfur isn’t over yet.  Refugees in Chad need your help getting back on their feet.  Putting books into the hands of those who needs them is just one small way to make a difference.

Visit Book Wish Foundation and the Holiday Book Wish website for more information.

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