PROVIDENCE – Bank Rhode Island’s annual Children’s Book Drive in March collected 9,916 books to support local nonprofit Books Are Wings.
That figure, the bank says, is the most books the financial institution has collected in the initiative’s 13-year history.
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BankRI’s annual initiative coincided with National Reading Month last month, which was being commemorated at all 20 branches, the bank said. Along with dropping off donated books at any BankRI location, members of the community supported the drive virtually by purchasing from Books Are Wings’ online Amazon wish list, BankRI said.
Books Are Wings, a Pawtucket-based literacy organization, will now prepare the books and distribute them to local children through both its school-based and summer reading outreach programs in Rhode Island’s core communities, BankRI said.
About 62,000 books have been distributed by Books Are Wings to children.
“It’s incredible to see our community – our customers and staff – rally together around a cause as vital as helping children have access to books,” BankRI CEO and President Will Tsonos said in a statement. “The work of Books Are Wings is so important, particularly their focus on keeping our [youths] actively reading during the summer months to combat learning loss.”
(CORRECTION: Books Are Wings distributes about 62,000 books to children annually. An earlier version of the story erroneously stated that more than 62,000 books were collected and distributed through the program.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
