Local 10 News hosted its ninth annual Big Book Drive in South Florida on Wednesday.
“More than 3,500 books went out to kids from kindergarten to eighth grade, and the service has been fantastic because the need is great,” said Local 10 News anchor Eric Yutzy. “They say 60 percent of children in lower-income communities don’t have a book at home. Think about how much that impacts literacy rates.”
Each child went home with at least two of their favorite books. Vera Cadillac Buick GMC has been the Big Book Drive sponsor since Day 1.
Since its inception, the Local 10 Big Book Drive has worked with Miami-Dade, Monroe and Broward County schools to get new books into the hands of students, especially those in elementary schools.
The drive kicked off at Frank C. Martin K-8 in Miami.
The students at Frank C. Martin opened the drive with a countdown and loud reception in the school’s cafeteria to help them get ready and excited to read during the summer.
“It is so critical. It’s the pathway to literacy and it’s the pathway to their education. Literacy plummets when children don’t have books at home, and we often take those things for granted. We want to get them hyped and ready for reading,” said Yutzy.
Local 10 was also able to deliver books to the students of West Lakes Preparatory Academy in Hialeah.
The Local 10 Big Book Drive continued its South Florida tour from Miami-Dade to Broward County and made a stop at Lake Forest Elementary School in Pembroke Park.
Yutzy was seen lounging in the lovely quiet of the school’s library while engaging other students to read some of their favorite books which included Star Wars Doodles.
“Today is not about keeping a school library quiet,” said Yutzy. “Today is about giving out some books and making some noise.”
Students were seen cheering with pom poms and using kazoos to share their passion for reading.
“We are hitting every interest level, every reading ability from the little five-minute Disney stories, which are just fantastic for the bedtime reading process, all the way up through Dr. Seuss, and some of the bigger books for some of the higher-level interest readers,” said Yutzy. “This is about finding something they’re passionate about and something they would love to get into for the summer season.”
Yutzy spoke with Skyler, a student at Lake Forest Elementary, who shared her thoughts on why reading gives her so much joy.
“Because when I read my favorite books, I feel like I’m in that world,” Skyler said.
From Miami-Dade to Broward County, Yutzy said there was nothing that was going to stop his passion of giving books to students in need.
The drive continued its journey to Plantation Park Elementary School in Broward.
“Why is it so fun to read?” Yutzy asked Natalie, a student at Plantation Park Elementary.
“When I was in third grade, I read this book called Save Me Ac. I just really thought it was a nice book about when you’re alone, there will always be something in there and I just liked it a lot,” Natalie said.
Yutzy gave students there a generous 10 seconds to grab a few books to take home for the summer.
The drive was created as part of the My Future, My Choice initiative to give kids access to their very own books. It has been identified that in low-income communities across the nation, there is often only a single book to be shared among as many as 830 children.
Local 10 News spoke to third-grade student Janay Clacima, who said she didn’t have a book at home. The one Yutzy handed her became the only book she owned.
“You can’t make a library card. You don’t get books for free and you have to return it. But with this book, you can keep it forever and remember this school anytime,” she said.
To conclude the drive, Local 10 News heard from Mister J, of the nonprofit Hope for Miami, who shared what the drive and donating books to children meant to him.
“Being able to provide some free books where they can communicate and spend some quality time reading a book together is one of those biggest things that we can do as a community-based organization,” he said. “To be able to do that for the families and say, ‘Hey, here you go free, go read, and let your imagination run wild.’”
“We’re able to do that and sometimes it’s a simple convenience,” Mister J added. “It’s easy to take out the phone to download a game and to sit there for a couple of hours, but with those books, with the pictures, the colors, it’s just amazing what they can do for the young mind and what it inspires its way past the borders of their homes and their rooms.”
The Local 10 Big Book Drive collected and distributed over 154,000 books to South Florida kids last year.
Here is a recap of the schools that Local 10 News visited on Wednesday:
Miami-Dade County
Frank C. Martin K-8
9 a.m.-10 a.m.
14250 Boggs Dr.
Miami
West Lakes Preparatory Academy
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
13835 NW 97th Avenue
Hialeah
Broward County
Lake Forest Elementary School
12 p.m. 1 p.m.
3550 SW 48th Avenue
Pembroke Park
Plantation Park Elementary School
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
875 SW 54th Avenue
Plantation
Vera Cadillac
3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
300 S. University Drive
Pembroke Pines