I remember reading a series of books by Noel Streatfeild growing up. I called them the “Shoes books.” Each one was about a little British girl, or a few sisters, usually growing up poor but talented. Well, poor enough to have hand-me-down “frocks” but wealthy enough to have a nanny. They find family, and comfort, and sometimes fame, in the performing arts. I read them all: Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes, Movie Shoes. Man I wanted to be poor but talented with a British accent and a nanny. I was none of these things, so I kept reading.
You can enter your story about what book got you hooked on reading and then ”vote for the state to receive 50,000 new books for children in need” at the First Book web site.
Charity Begins at Home?
I voted for Arkansas. Although my new home state of Illinois also has lots of children who need books, I feel confident there is also lots of funding focused on Illinois. Rural areas like Arkansas historically don’t get a lot of attention.
According to the National Center for Family Philanthropy report on rural philanthropy, “Current grantmaking behavior and trends are skewed heavily toward support for urban-based or urban-focused programs.” The places where wealth is created also see the greatest share when that wealth is redistributed through philanthropy.
Even worse, in all geographies, relatively little of the charitable dollars given each year are earmarked for those in need.
The Least Among Us
According to the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, “Only 8 percent of households’ donated dollars were reported as contributions to help meet basic needs–providing food, shelter or other necessities. An additional estimated 23 percent of total giving from all sources went to programs specifically intended to help people of low income–either providing other direct benefits (such as medical treatment and scholarships) or through initiatives creating opportunity and empowerment (such as literacy and job training programs). “
Vote for the Underdogs!
Back at First Book, the voting results to date show there aren’t too many people out there giving the love to Arkansas: it was 44th in the voting this morning.
Here’s the current top ten. Rally the troops! Get those books for a state that needs them!
- Nebraska
- West Virginia
- Oklahoma
- Kentucky
- North Dakota
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Florida
- California
