NORFOLK, Va. — It’s a nonprofit aimed at promoting literacy and was recently selected by Coastal Virginia magazine as one of the top nonprofits in the area.
It's called REACH, or Reading Enriches All Children.
The group's executive director Dr. Jennifer Goff said it’s a milestone that wasn’t easy, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are a small staff but do big things... And in the last two years alone we’ve doubled our distribution from 20,000 books to 40,000 books,” Goff said.
“We were worried about shutting down because donations kind of stopped, everything stopped.”
Like everyone else, they had to adapt.
With children staying at home during the pandemic, they had to come up with a creative way to make sure kids were still getting books.
“We decided to start sending books physical to children home no matter their background because everyone has been impacted by COVID one way or another and books can sometimes get a little pricey,” Goff said.
Her group mailed care packages directly to homes that include "two books, a mask, some worksheets.”
And they’re taking it a step further for the holidays
“We have partnered with Military Circle Mall and we will be launching a free book store to families, this Christmas – or Holiday season,” Goff said.
The free bookstore is set to open the week of November 23rd.
“Kids will be able to come and shop and get books for themselves, for their family members, all at no cost to them," she said.
If you want to sign up to receive books or if you want to donate to help, you can visit REACH's official website reachreads.org.
You can also connect with them on Facebook.