For Immediate Release
Contact: Benay Hicks, Chief External Relations Officer
857-225-5039
Book Harvest Receives $250,000 Grant from William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to Expand Summer Literacy Program Across North Carolina
Durham, NC (January 31, 2025): Book Harvest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to books for every child and support for every parent, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to expand its innovative Books on Break program across North Carolina. The grant will support the organization's strategic initiative to ensure students have what they need to retain—and even advance—reading achievement and engagement over the summer months.
North Carolina faces a critical childhood literacy crisis, with 78% of children from low-income families not reading proficiently by the end of third grade. Books on Break addresses this challenge by ensuring students have an abundance of books during summer, a critical period when learning gains can quickly erode. The Books on Break program allows students to choose 10 brand-new books to take home and keep forever, creating excitement about reading and helping to prevent the summer learning slide that disproportionately affects children growing up in or near poverty.
“The Kenan Trust is committed to funding innovative and effective programs in education,” said Nancy J. Cable, Executive Director of the Kenan Charitable Trust. “The Books on Break program embodies these qualities, and we appreciate the vision of Book Harvest to expand the program across North Carolina. We are honored to partner in this initiative to support student learning and growth over summer break.”
"This grant from the Kenan Charitable Trust is a transformative opportunity to scale our proven program during the critical summer months," said Rachel Stine, Senior Director of Books on Break. "We will be able to expand our reach to an additional 3,900 students, with a focused effort on reaching students who attend Title 1 schools."
The initiative will focus on implementing the Books on Break program across partner school districts and expanding communication and implementation tools to promote the program statewide. Over its 12-year history, Books on Break has provided more than 500,000 books to thousands of students, with over 90% of participating teachers reporting that the program supports their literacy goals.
With this grant, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust will have invested $1.75M since 2015 in Book Harvest’s vision of literacy and justice for all. The new grant will catalyze Book Harvest’s progress toward its goal of ensuring every K-5 student in North Carolina has an enriched summer by providing them with a bounty of self-selected books to practice their reading all summer long and to keep forever.
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About Book Harvest:
Book Harvest’s mission is books for every child, support for every parent, and literacy for every community. Internationally recognized for its work to transform children's literacy, Book Harvest has provided more than 2.4 million books to children and families since its founding in 2011, ensuring that children grow up from birth owning an abundance of books and that parents have the tools and power to ignite and strengthen their children's literacy for a lifetime. With programs that are grounded in evidence, Book Harvest believes that literacy starts at birth, in the home, powered by parents, and nourished with books. Learn more at bookharvest.org.
About the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust:
The mission of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, a New York perpetual trust based in Chapel Hill, is to empower human potential through education and whole community investment. The Trust’s grantmaking is generally centered in the four states of Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia. To learn more about the Kenan Trust, visit kenancharitabletrust.org.
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Contact: Benay Hicks, Chief External Relations Officer
857-225-5039, benay@bookharvest.org