Donation to Campfire Columbia
Books For Kids collects and distributes books to underprivileged youth in over 50 agencies and organizations throughout Oregon and SW Washington. Through grants, donations, and partnering with local companies to raise funds for book purchases (thank you Barnes & Noble Bookstores) we are able to purchase new books.
In recent years our primary sources of these new books has been Scholastic and First Book Marketplace. Through judicious purchasing, coupled with donated new books, our average cost of new books is kept between $2 and $3 each. We also collect both new and like new children’s books as donations from a variety of sources, including book drives and other donation programs.
Every Child Should Have A Book To Call Their Very Own!
How Can You Help?
- Collect new books at your work, church or service organization.
- Whenever you buy a book, purchase an extra children’s book and donate it to Books For Kids.
- Volunteer to write a grant or organize a fund-raising drive.
- Lead us to discounted books available for purchase from publishers or book sellers.
We would be happy to accept your book donations at any of our monthly chapter meetings. If you collect a large number of books, please give us a call and we’ll make delivery arrangements as well as provide you with our profuse thanks and gratitude.
Tax Deductible Donations
Use this form to make a tax-deductible cash donation which we will use to purchase books for distribution to the organizations we serve.
OR use your credit card to make a donation:
More About Who We Serve
Books for Kids Updates:
Mom, look I have my own books. Now I can read them to my friends.” – Child who received books from Books for Kids
Barnes & Noble’s Holiday Book Fair and Book Drive collected English and Spanish language books ranging from Early Readers to Young Adult. Books for Kids has since donated these books to Children’s Book Bank; Albertina Kerr; Goodwill; Children’s Club, YWCA; Toy and Joy; Youth, Rights, & Justice; Public Employees Retirement System; Metropolitan Family Services, Willamette Education Service District, SMART, and Impact NW.
Here are some stories about how these donations have touched lives:
YWCA Family Preservation Project Program
The YWCA distributed the books to their Family Preservation Project program, which helps incarcerated women rehabilitate and prepare for life after incarceration. The Family Preservation Project and other family-oriented programs stem from the YWCA’s Center for Justice Involved Families.
The books now live in the Early Childhood Education classroom at Coffee Creek where families meet for visitations and connect with their families by playing and reading together. Jill Morrow of YWCA called these books “a priceless gift!”
Youth, Rights & Justice
Youth, Rights & Justice strives to improve the lives of at-risk children and families in Oregon, such as children in foster care who have been abused, neglected, or in trouble. As part of their efforts, the attorneys deliver new books to their clients. They believe that children who have suffered trauma deserve brand new books of their very own.
Janeen Olsen from Youth, Rights & Justice has said that Willamette Writers Books for Kids program is their only source for new books. She told us that most of the time, when the attorneys bring our books to their clients, they “are the first new books these children have ever seen, let alone owned. The books make a tremendous difference in the lives of these children, at a time when they are the most vulnerable.”
Metropolitan Family Services
After Willamette Writers delivered books to Metropolitan Family services, the books landed in the hands of their AARP Experience Corps volunteers, adults 50 years or older who tutor children from kindergarden through third grade in the Portland Metro area. The volunteers were thrilled to receive new books in English and Spanish, enabling them to reach a diverse group of learners.
Jessica McLaren from Metropolitan Family Services said, “Getting new readers excited about reading can sometimes be a challenge, but being able to share new, culturally inclusive and age-appropriate books can be a great place to start!”
Children’s Book Bank
In 2008, The Children’s Book Bank set out to give books to children in need, and they have since supplied books to over 41,000 children from low-income families who may have never owned books before. One parent from Portland Public Schools Head Start told Children’s Book Bank that her son said, “Mom, look I have my own books. Now I can read them to my friends.”
Albertina Kerr
Willamette Writers delivered over two hundred English and Spanish books to Albertina Kerr. These books became part of Albertina Kerr’s Grant a Wish program, a holiday drive to provide gifts and cheer to children and adults with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges.
Stop by and find a book to share with a kid in need.
Come join Willamette Writers at Barnes & Noble, Clackamas Town Center for our Holiday Book Fair to support Books for Kids on December 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. You can meet and greet several local authors and help support Willamette Writers and its Book For Kids Program with every book you buy, in the store or online.
Just use the voucher code: 11723269.
Each night of the Book Fair from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, Willamette Writers will host authors readings and workshops at Barnes & Noble, Clackamas Town Center, 12000 SE 82nd Ave, Portland.
We’ll ring in the festivities on December 2 with readings from writers published in the Willamette Writers’ literary journal, The Timberline Review. On December 3, we will celebrate the published successes of Willamette Writers members and authors, and we’ll hold a special Kids Night on December 4th, featuring the talents of Young Willamette Writers and authors of children’s literature.
And don’t forget to buy a book during your visit!
A percentage of every sale made in-store (with the voucher code: 11723269) at Barnes & Noble from December 2nd to December 6th will go to support Books For Kids and Willamette Writers.
Help spread the word! Tweet:
What’s Free & Fun? #wilwrite’s Book Fair & Fundraiser! Dec 2-4, PACKED w/local writers. http://ctt.ec/am77V+ #PDX 
Want to help out with our gift-wrapping station?
And don’t worry — if you can’t make it to the store, you can use your voucher code online until December 11th to support your community.
Books For Kids is a Willamette Writers program that distributes donated books to disadvantaged children and teenagers. The program works with 50 agencies and organization in the Portland Metro, Eugene, and Medford areas including children’s hospitals, shelters, schools, and other centers and agencies supporting families in need.
Join us! Buy a book, hob nob with authors, meet Willamette Writers members, and help a child in need with the gift of a book and all the adventures within.
Join Us For These Events (Free and Open to the Public):
Wednesday, December 2nd – Timberline Review Night (details and lineup on Facebook)
Thursday, December 3rd – Meet the Author Night (details and lineup on Facebook)
Friday, December 4th – Kids’ Night (details and lineup on Facebook)
Giveaway: We’re raffling a copy of Timberline Review for the occasion. Details here.
And when you shop at Barnes & Noble, use this number: #11723269
Last year, Barnes & Noble donated nearly 1.5 million books to more than 650 local charities across the country. Books for Kids is excited to be one of those charities this year. The primary recipient for Books for Kids donations is local schools and under-served communities.
Kenny, the Head Cashier at Barnes & Noble Clackamas, helps a little penguin donate a book to a child in need.
According to Lenni Treat, the Community Business Development Manager at the Barnes & Noble in the Clackamas Town Center, “Every year Barnes & Noble puts books in the hands of children in need during our Holiday Book Drive. This year, the Clackamas Barnes & Noble is pleased to be able to artner with Willamette Writers organization, Books for Kids. Our employees are so excited knowing that the thousands of books we collect will be distributed to local children by an organization that promotes literacy, which is near and dear to our hearts.”
Willamette Writers’ President, Jenny Schrader, says: “Books for Kids is a fantastic program. It helps get books to kids, and gets them reading and thinking about words — which is what we are all about. We are thrilled that Barnes & Noble is helping us get books into kids’ hands this holiday season.”
Stop by the Barnes and Noble in Clackamas and give your own gift of reading this holiday season!
And the program received 40 brand new books! Books ranged from the Big Bad Bubble picture book to a newer Splat the Cat level 1 book, and classic books such as The Phantom Tollbooth.
Many thanks to everyone who purchased a book at the conference! Every book will find its way into the life of a child! Donate to Books for Kids.
Yours in writing, Patti
Barnes and Noble will have children’s books available at their register in the DoubleTree. There, attendees may purchase a new children’s book to donate to Books For Kids! You can just add it onto the book purchase you are making and Barnes and Noble will take care of the rest.
Please help support this part of Willamette Writers and help every child have a book that they can call their own! Donate to Books for Kids.
Yours in writing,
Patti Haack