United Way Of Hays & Caldwell Deliver 8500 Books To 1700 Pre-K Students

Studies consistently show that the more books a child has access to in their home, the higher their educational attainment will be.

San Marcos, Texas –  United Way of Hays & Caldwell Counties distributed over 8500 books to close to 1700 pre-k and head start students enrolled in the seven school districts throughout its service area through the “Change A Child’s Story” program .  

This program works to increase the number of books families have access to in their homes by raising funds to purchase high-quality, age-appropriate books for children. 

Each pre-k student in San Marcos CISD, Hays CISD, Wimberley ISD, Dripping Springs ISD, Lockhart ISD, Prairie Lea ISD and Luling ISD received a book bag containing five bilingual books, crayons, scissors and a kindergarten readiness guide. 

Studies consistently show that the more books a child has access to in their home, the higher their educational attainment will be.  While access to books is not the only factor that contributes to student success, it is a key ingredient to increasing the odds that a child will be ready for kindergarten on time, reading on grade level by third grade and eventually graduating from high school college and career ready.

By providing bilingual books, along with the kindergarten readiness guide and story extending activities and materials, United Way is meeting a need that is critical to student success.

“United Way of Hays & Caldwell Counties believes that every child’s story begins with Once upon a time.  Unfortunately, not all stories have a happy ending,” said Michelle Harper, President / CEO. “We hope that by providing books to build children’s home libraries and readiness guides to help parents be their children’s first teachers, we are changing the story for our communities’ children.”

Throughout the last year United Way has accepted both large and small donations from businesses and community members who are joining the fight to ensure that all children are ready for kindergarten. 

Major donations from the Burdine Johnson Foundation, HEB, City of San Marcos Commission on Children & Youth and Wells Fargo were combined with funds collected by Trends & Traditions, Yogurt in Love, Mochas & Javas, Wells Fargo Kyle Branch and others to purchase the high quality books, supplies and readiness guides that each child received.

For more information on United Way’s “Change a Child’s Story” program or any of its other education initiative, or to find out how you or your organization can get involved, please visit the UWHCC website at www.unitedwayhaysco.org or call 512.353.1420.