The idea of Books For Keeps came to Melaney six years ago when her niece, MK, first joined a local mentor program. MK noticed that the children she was mentoring could not afford the materials required to make the most of their education. It all started when MK overheard a little girl say, “I wish I had a book at my house.”
With no books at home, and no access to a public library, many children lose the opportunity to learn and build on their reading skills during summer. What’s more, Melaney realized many of those children would actually lose reading skills entirely. Seeing this, Melaney took action that lead to a vast change in the lives of children across the community.
Some would have chosen to observe the situation and say, “someone should do something about this.” Well, Melaney decided to be that person. She took the situation into her own hands and said, “I am somebody. I can do something.” As Melaney began to build on this thought in her personal blog posts, she sought advice and ideas. These ideas led to the creation of an organization that has provided 185,000 books to children since 2009. Never in her wildest dreams did Melaney think that her idea would turn into such an amazing reality.
Now, you're probably thinking, "why is she talking so much about BFK? What's the point here?" Here's what I'm getting at. I have volunteered with Books For Keeps for a little over a year and a half now. It began with my involvement within my sorority, it grew as I became the philanthropy chair, and it expanded vastly when I decided to intern for them and volunteer regularly. Volunteering is one of the most rewarding, cheapest thrills that this girl can ask for.
BFK offers weekly volunteer hours in their warehouse, and man do they need the help! The strong, amazing women who run this organization spend their time and hard work in the warehouse, moving and organizing hundreds of palettes and boxes of books. So, this past week, I went and helped out in the warehouse, and also brought some lightly used books for them to sell in their yearly book sales.
Through my position as an intern with Books for Keeps, I handle many different aspects of this nonprofit. Currently, a graduate intern and I are working on compiling information for the first-ever annual report done by Books for Keeps. I also help manage social media accounts, blog posts, community involvement, and perform some market research for them. So, naturally, I'm kinda tuned into all the different ways BFK chooses to reach out to the local community.
As a local nonprofit organization, Facebook tends to be the largest Books for Keeps media hub. It is the media site with the most following and attraction. Considering that the target segment demographic lies somewhere between parents, local contributors, and students, Facebook seems to be the easiest way to provide sufficient outreach. Instagram is generally used mores for informational blurbs and feel-good attitude posts, where thank you notes (from children that received books) are posted along with other photos from book distributions and local community activity.
As Books for Keeps continues to grow, so do Melaney’s hopes for the future, and for the impact that can be made. Books for Keeps is laying the ground-work to reach more children. Feel free to browse around the website and social media accounts (click the hyperlinks!) and check out all the great ways you can get a cheap thrill while lending a helping hand to those in need.
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