This
is the second of a series of posts about Alliance’s CSR by Jake
Murray, Vice President of Operations and leader of our
employee-driven AllianceCARES initiative. Follow along our journey of
building stronger communities.
True,
National Reading Month came and went. But that shouldn’t stop any
of us from continuing to embrace its essence.
Besides,
we’d all agree that rules are sometimes worth breaking —
especially when it concerns a child’s access to learning.
And
that happened to be the case on Wednesday when we delivered books to
Carnevale Elementary School students in Rhode Island’s capital
city. This was all made possible through working with an amazing
local organization called Books
Are Wings.
Books
Are Wings
This
is a tiny nonprofit with a huge purpose: putting free books in the
hands of children. 
Our
culture at Alliance Security centers around learning, teaching, and
growing. And this needs to be alive — inside out, head to toe among
our 500+ employees. After looking into it, Books Are Wings’
tremendous work and focus on empowerment immediately caught our
attention.
Later,
we discovered that we shared something else in common: we both
officially began
our work in 2003 (a random fun fact).
A
totally relevant fact that we should all know is that children who
read at home have higher chances of doing better in school. For more
on child literacy, the National Education Association nicely bullets
it all out here.
Sadly,
huge disparities exist. And they’re pretty upsetting. According to
one study, two-thirds
of kids in America are incapable of reading at grade level by the
4th
grade.
Research
shows that this leads to poor school performance in later
years.Helping
1 Is Enough, But 400 Is Better
We
knew we had to do something. Thankfully, Books Are Wings coordinators
Jocelyn White and Kim Nelson showed us how — helping us directly
connect 400 kids with books.
Jocelyn
and Kim inspired us to run a two-week book drive in March. A huge box
in our lobby served as a daily visual reminder for employees to get
involved.
Dozens
of books later, the next step was to deliver them. A big thank you
goes out to Alliance’s Cindy Miranda, Jaime Lee Bunton, and Nathan
Brown for making this happen.
This
was much more than a drop-off, too. The trio took the time to help
the students choose books to take home with them. During the process,
happiness and excitement filled the air. I was told that some kids
were even in shock because they couldn’t believe all of those books
were for them, and for free!
Cindy,
Jaime Lee, and Nathan had their hands full with the students —
helping out with the book selection process. Requests ranged from
books about Spiderman to ones by Dr. Seuss. A picture book on sign
language also ended up in the hands of a student with autism who’s
learning this form of manual communication to enhance his ability to
connect with others.
An
elementary school is just one of the many places that Books Are Wings
helps. Others include early learning centers and local libraries, as
well as Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Rhode Island.
This
incredible experience is part of the Book Party Program — a way for
Books Are Wings to reach children from low-income families, a group
that experiences the largest gaps in reading. To do something and
help, go here.
At
Alliance, a focus on people in need especially touched our hearts
because we’re always looking for ways to help. However we can. For
instance, we donate
clothes and toys to kids every year during the holidays.
A
Special Thanks to Our Partners
This
all wouldn’t have been possible without the passion and commitment
from certain individuals. One is Michelle Durrance, Carnevale
Elementary School's English Arts Language Reading Coach — who
coordinated this experience.
Last
but not least — on behalf of our family at Alliance — I’d like
to once again salute Jocelyn White and Kim Nelson. We truly admire
your unrelenting commitment to motivate children to learn through
reading.
Thanks
for allowing us to be part of your mission at Books Are Wings!
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