Read, Give, Grow with Milk+Bookies

Did you know that 61% of low income families have no books in their home? With this number in mind, Meredith Alexander started  MILK+BOOKIES^TM  . Through this non-profit organization, she raised over 47,000 books and inspired over 11,000 young “future philanthropists”. An interesting concept which you can become part of.

MILK+BOOKIES^TM exposes young children to how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book. Read, Give, Grow.

Read! It’s what Milk+Bookies is all about, spreading the love of reading to those who can’t afford books of their own.

Give! Milk+Bookies teaches kids the importance of giving, and instills in them self-confidence, pride and a sense of goodwill – all wonderful by products of the Milk+Bookies brand of philanthropy.

Grow! Milk+Bookies provides all the tools, resources, support and instruction required for anyone to host their own Milk+Bookies parties. At these “book-raisers,” children are invited to choose, inscribe and donate books to their local peers in need and want of appropriate reading material.

How did the idea of Milk+Bookies came to Meredith’s mind?

In 2004, she decided it would be fun to throw a party, which I named “Milk+Bookies”, at the local children’s bookstore, Storyopolis, and invite all her friends with kids. Once there, they asked the kids to choose a book that they would want to give to a local child without any bedtime stories. We then asked the young guests to inscribe a bookplate (most of the kids could only scribble with a crayon), stick it in the book and then drop that book into a box for a local recipient group.

After hosting Milk+Bookies parties biannually that were so successful and popular, Meredith had the idea to develop the concept so that other families could experience theses kinds of experiences as well. She brought on two of her smartest friends, Laura Zimmerman and Heidi Lindelof on the Board of Directors of her little project. They applied for a 501 (c) 3 tax exempt statues, built a website, created models for birthday parties, class projects and book fairs. Then, they went national.

Watch the funny video below and read more about how to Host Your Own Milk+Bookies Book-Raiser here.