Anyone who has studied educational statistics is more or less familiar with the “summer break syndrome.” After the lengthy academic year concludes, the nation’s school children are turned loose for some three months of sun and fun. Unfortunately, that fun also results in some cognitive backsliding. Children lose a good deal of what they gained academically over the summer. While that ground is typically regained in the beginning of the ensuing school year, it’s still a vexing reality.

One of the first things to go during summer vacation season is reading time. Instead of curling up with a good book, our youth turn to other forms of entertainment (i.e. television) that are less cognitively engaging. In short, our kids spend the summer letting TV turn their budding little brains into mush.We’re not going to change the world of K-12 education here, but we are going to give it a little boost. We have partnered with the Read to Succeed Foundation to keep a steady stream of children’s books on hand for pantry shoppers. Read to Succeed has distributed over 16,000 books, mostly through the pantry system. The books are delivered, organized by grade/age level and staged by Read to Succeed founder (and soon to be high school student) Emily Spector. Easy for us–awesome for our customers!

We are looking forward to keeping our kids’ home libraries stocked up over the summer. Thanks to Read to Succeed, NNEMAP now consistently offers nourishment for the body and the mind!

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Want to help us keep dishing up food–and food for thought? Now is a great time to donate! CenturyLink is currently offering matching funds of 75% of your donation. Donate $100, NNEMAP gets $175. What a deal! To support NNEMAP’s many missions, click here. As always, thank you for your generous support!