PJ Haarsma:

When I first traveled across North America to promote The Softwire, my initial excitement quickly turned to dismay when I witnessed the lack of book funds available to schools and libraries. Children would follow me into the parking lot after my presentation, begging for a book they couldn't afford while teachers and librarians scrambled to find funds for even a single copy. I came across many a teacher who took the money out of his/her own pocket just so the kids could have the book in their library.

It was this disturbing trend that prompted me to establish the Kids Need to Read project as a way to fight back. It is our dream to fill library shelves with great books so that no child lacks for amazing stories to inspire their imaginations.

Nathan Fillion:

Growing up, my parents managed to show me the importance of reading without cramming it down my throat. A difficult task, I’m sure. It breaks my heart to think that there are kids out there, ready to have their imaginations lit on fire, excited and wanting to read, and facing naked shelves in their school or local libraries. Rather than complain or wait till the system stops failing our nation’s children, this is a matter I feel we must take into our own hands. There are children, right now, waiting—wanting to read. What shall we tell them?

I support Kids Need to Read, because it fosters a desire to learn, the process of self-improvement, and the chance for children’s minds to grow. What will you do?

Denise Gary:

Kids Need to Read is about the power reading has to transform a life that might otherwise be lost. We are driven to make a difference in the lives of children, especially impoverished children. If one has never known poverty, it is difficult to comprehend the severity of its oppressive, dispiriting nature. Culture and literature often become lost to survival. For this reason, Kids Need to Read ensures that our books not only light the way to literacy, but empower children with awareness of a path to a different life—a better life.

Because Kids Need to Read serves children of all ages, we are in the unique position of extending our literacy program to middle readers and young adults, who are often overlooked by literacy organizations. There is an overwhelming need for literacy intervention among juvenile offenders, urban teenagers, and youth faced with learning challenges. These demographic groups experience extremely elevated dropout rates due to illiteracy. Kids Need to Read embraces these children with the knowledge that they are a vital part of the world we all share.

Passion to make a difference is an uncontrollable fire that burns from within. This is the spark that ignites all of us at Kids Need to Read to inspire literacy and social responsibility in the children of our nation.