Today’s guest post comes from Rochee Jeffrey, the Social Media Coordinator for First Book, an international nonprofit that provides access to new books for children in need. To date, First Book has distributed more than 85 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada! First Book is transforming the lives of children in need and elevating the quality of education by making new, high-quality books available on an ongoing basis. Visit www.firstbook.org to learn more about how you can help get books to kids in need.

Learning to read is critical to a child’s success – both in school and in life. Literacy is one of the best predictors of a child’s future success. But a child without access to books won’t have the chance to become an engaged and capable reader. This is the reality for children who are growing up in poverty; books are scarce. In some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the country there is only one book available for every 300 children.

In order to combat illiteracy, First Book has provided underprivileged children with over 85 million brand-new books. Our work would not be possible without the assistance of partners like Cambria Wines. That’s why we are so excited to be joining forces with Cambria to get books into the hands of underprivileged kids.

This September and October, Cambria Wines has committed to raising $20,000 for First Book-which will provide 10,000 brand-new books to kids in need. How can you help? All you have to do is “text” the word “FIRSTBOOK” to 20222. This will automatically add $5 to your phone bill. That $5 will help First Book provide new books to children who need them. In select states, donating may also enter you into a weekly giveaway to win an Amazon Kindle Wireless Reader.

We hope that you’ll join First Book and Cambria in our efforts to give 10,000 new books to children in need.

I’ve always loved to read. Ever since I was a little girl, when my mom would tuck me into bed every night with a bedtime story, books have nurtured my imagination, given me strength, and helped me to envision an exciting place for myself in the world. Books and reading have always been such an important part of my life that it is impossible for me to imagine what my life would have been like without them.

Unfortunately, that is something that too many children across the United States have grown up knowing. Right now, it is estimated that 11 million adults in the United States (1 in 20 adults) are non-literate in English, meaning that they can’t perform simple tasks like reading their prescription medication labels or filling out job applications. And as funding for school reading programs are being cut, that number will probably increase for the generation of children who are now in school.

That’s why this fall, we at Cambria Winery have decided to help raise $20,000 for national literacy organization First Book! My family has always been passionate about supporting education, and we’ve had a book drive in our Santa Maria tasting room for the past couple of years, in order to donate books to local charities in need. However, this year we really wanted to make a greater impact, and to support literacy on the national level. With the $20,000 we raise this fall for First Book, they will be able to donate 10,000 new books to the pre-schools, reading programs and classrooms in need across the country, to help get books into the hands of children whose families otherwise would not be able to afford them.

I’m going to be writing more about what our literacy campaign is going to be all about on the blog within the next couple of days, but for now, I’ll just give you a short summary. First, we’ll be getting the word out about our text-to-donate program that is kicking off today, September 1^st, in honor of September being National Literacy Month! To text-to-donate, simply text the word “FIRSTBOOK” to 20222, to have a $5 donation added to your phone bill. That $5 donation will give First Book the resources to purchase two and a half new books for children, and to put us on the way to helping thousands of children in need!

I hope that you’ll stay tuned to hear other exciting ways to help us combat illiteracy! Together, we can do our part to make the world a better place for thousands of children in need.

Here are some quick facts about literacy:

• There is an estimated 11 million adults are “non-literate” in English, including 4 million who probably can’t speak English and 7 million who can’t answer basic written questions.
• Some 30 million adults have “below basic” skills in prose. Their ability is so limited that they may not be able to read a simple pamphlet, for example.
• Although the number of books in the home directly predicts reading achievement, one study found that in some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the country there is only one book available for every 300 children. The same study found that for middle income neighborhoods, the ratio is 13 books per child.
• 80 percent of the pre-schools and after school programs serving children in need do not have a single book for the children they serve.

Thank you for your support!