In Kind Giving

Bring books with you to New Orleans to support literacy

We believe that God created us for one another, and that we are intimately connected to one another as members of Christ’s body. It is because of this deep mutuality that we have chosen to return to New Orleans in 2012, to continue to assist the people of New Orleans in their efforts to regain dignity and freedom post-Katrina. While some people still struggle with rebuilding, most of the problems that are holding New Orleanians captive existed pre-Katrina. At the top of that list is literacy.



It is not only children who are underperforming in reading proficiencies. Forty percent of the city’s adults lack the literacy skills to comprehend basic government forms. And recovery programs have done little to ease the burden.

The Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans estimates that as many as 100,000 people from New Orleans may have had assistance delayed, or they never applied for help at all, because they could not read the documents. And if parents can’t read, statistics show that their children also suffer.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the public schools in New Orleans were some of the worst in the nation. Sadly, thousands of poor children were trapped in their local failing public schools. During that time, New Orleans had only a 40 percent literacy rate and 50 percent of black students did not graduate from high school in four years.

Those working on issues of literacy in New Orleans have asked us to bring books to help their efforts to help children read. Having access to books is a crucial stepping stone in the war against children’s illiteracy. And not just any book. Click here for a listing the titles of books New Orleans’ teachers and administrators recommend. We will collect these books at the Gathering.

To access the list of book titles, or to make a donation, visit this link: http://gulfcoastsynod.org/books.html