The Walt Disney Company and the nonprofit company First Book recently launched a partnership with the local United Way to distribute 5,000 books to Valley students.
The books will go to young scholars in Madera, Huron and Mendota. The three towns have poverty rates of 26.9, 43.5 and 49.5 percent respectively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s poverty rate is 13.3 percent and the national rate is 14.6.
Dan Adams, president of ABC-owned station KFSN-TV, presented books to Lindsay Callahan, executive director of United Way of Fresno and Madera County, in a ceremony March 20 at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.
ABC is a subsidiary of Disney.
The presentation was part of First Book and Disney’s Magic of Storytelling campaign, which provides books for children in need, and was also tied to a local United Way program.
The program “More than a Backpack” connects “underserved students” to resources that “promote graduation from high school and planning for a career of choice.” This program was developed to address an ongoing demand for student backpacks in Fresno and Madera counties, according to United Way.
“In my family, we call it happy tears,” Madera Unified School District superintendent Todd Lile told KFSN-TV about the book giveaway. “This is when I feel like the struggle that we all go through in education … (is) all worthwhile.”
Disney has said it will donate a book to a child in need for each self-portrait posted on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag “#MagicOfStorytelling”, according to First Books. The selfie, which Disney calls a “shelfie,” must include the person’s favorite book.
For details on First Book, visit http://firstbook.org/ online. Visit https://bit.ly/2CFoQPJ for details on the Magic of Storytelling campaign. A brief video of the book presentation at MLK school can be viewed at https://bit.ly/2JPlmQX.