A donation of $25 will allow us to purchase 8 new quality social and emotional learning books to give to children at a Title I elementary school to help nourish their literacy and desire to read and to help their brain development at a most critical age.

A donation of $50 will cover the cost of books and supplemental activity and curriculum materials to give to 16 children to assist their parents in their education at home in social and emotional learning skills necessary for success in education and life

A gift of $100 or more will allow us to serve more children in more schools in more counties and to develop more resources for our free virtual learning resources online that are available to teachers and parents throughout the year.

Fundraisers

Reaching a goal of $6,000 will ensure we can continuing donating at least 200 books each week for 10 weeks this summer to economically disadvantaged children during the covid-19 pandemic.

Reaching a goal of $12,500 will allow us to commit to a reading program in classrooms of one additional Title I elementary school and donate 5 books to each Pre-K through 2nd grade child to take home so they can meet the goal of 20 minutes reading daily.

Reaching a goal of $25,000 will cover the books and resource materials to add two additional Title I elementary schools to enrich and inspire the children to learn and practice the social and emotional skills to have a successful and productive life.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Music City Foundation

Kiwanis Children's Health, Education & Welfare Program

Our Kiwanis club has adopted a signature project to address brain development and literacy from infants through elementary school with a program of reading in classroom and distributing books to each child at preschools and Title I elementary schools. Our Kiwanis Children's Health, Education and Welfare (KCHEW) program was inspired by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) and Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY) to collaborate on the statewide initiative to help mitigate and provide resilience for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Then the Tennessee Department of Education (DOE) asked us to help improve the literacy of young children so they would be more successful in school and life. Our focus on books addressing the social and emotional learning themes covers both life-changing issues of children's health and education to result in a brighter future for them and society. The further request of Tennessee's DCS, TCCY and DOE was to share our program with the nearly 100 Kiwanis clubs across the state since the Kiwanis mission is focused on the health, education and development of children and youth.

The current health pandemic has caused a mid-course correction in our reading and distribution of books to young children in economically disadvantaged communities. With the virus closing schools early interrupting our plans including fundraising, We have distributed some books to low income families through the schools when food is picked up, and have started delivering sandwiches and books to similar families in North Nashville to which some recipients are coming from as far away as Antioch, Clarksville, and Cookeville. We will also begin reading to the children.

It is a scary time to call a community together, however, this is what we do in a time of crisis. The unknown is fearful for many of us, but in the midst of it all our mission remains and there is still work to be done. If we are unable to receive the funds needed to purchase more books, we will fail the we serve as the critical summer time arrives when education in the home is paramount and reading at least 20 minutes daily is recommended for all children. 

Your support will have a positive impact on many children and youth as well as their families and communities. The social and emotional learning books and resources will also help parents engage their children in developing their brains and gaining the valuable life skills of self-awareness, self-management, respecting others, building relationships and making decisions.

Every dollar makes a difference. Please consider making a donation today.

We have a partnership with some publishers where we can get excellent quality new books (some retailing for $10 or more) for only $3.00 each, so each $25 donated will help educate, entertain and develop 8 children, and maybe more if they have siblings.