“Fast Five” star Ludacris is helping launch an effort serving the students in the Recovery District of New Orleans.
Global bookstore Better World Books and teen not-for-profit Dosomething.org are launching an “Epic Book Drive” initiative, which will empower young people nationwide to run community book drives to re-stock libraries in New Orleans’ Recovery School District.
Better World Books will provide free shipping to all groups organising drives and will schedule a pick-up for any group that collects over 150 full cartons of books.
“Our partnership with DoSomething.org and the New Orleans’ Recovery School District is a perfect fit for us. Our mission is to support literacy initiatives worldwide and our operations are large enough to handle a national program of this scale. We look forward to seeing students all over the country band together and make this book drive as EPIC as the name implies,” says Chris Johnson, Vice President of Better World Books.
The initiative launches with a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) from actor and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Ludacris. In the video, Ludacris invites viewers into his library to talk about the need for universal access to books. The versatile artist, who stars in the upcoming film “Fast Five,” challenges teens around the country to step up and collect books for the students in the New Orleans’ Recovery School District.
“I am proud to be a spokesperson for this initiative as it’s in line with my dedication to empowering young people,” explains Ludacris.
"The campaign is giving something as simple as a book to a student in a much needed area like the Recovery District so they can have the opportunity to read, communicate and be inspired. Sharing in this way will have an incredible impact on the confidence and abilities of the next generation of leaders and I’m excited to be leading the charge."
In New Orleans’ low-income neighborhoods there is 1 book per 300 children. With over 80% of schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina and a high correlation between high school graduation and literacy rates, the need is greater than ever.
The Recovery School District is designed to take underperforming schools and transform them into successful places for children to learn.
The District currently serves over 30,000 students in 69 traditional public and public charter schools.
Better World Books has re-used or recycled over 53 Million pounds of books to date.
by Shaakira de Vries
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