No. 800 - FOR THE CAUSE OF LITERACY!
No. 800
Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN
FOR THE CAUSE OF LITERACY!
Wise old Ben Franklin once said, “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.” An investment in knowledge always pays the best dividends.
In today’s technological society, a person must be able to read and write in order to gain life-sustaining knowledge. Sadly, 42 million adults in America can’t read at all and they are, for all practical purposes, fighting a battle with one hand tied behind their backs. If you have read, enjoyed and benefitted from my column over the years, I have a special request to make of you that will help a lot of deserving children learn to read. I am making this request for the cause of literacy, and it will not financially benefit me in any way.
Back in 2003, a state press director suggested that I publish a book of my columns, sell them, and give all the proceeds to help improve literacy in our country. In case you don’t know, the United States now ranks 18th out of 23 industrialized nations in reading, science and math test scores. With the help of another state press director friend, we secured a panel of award-winning journalists to read my columns and select the ones they liked best to be included in this book that was titled, “Learning, Earning & Giving Back.” As a result, thousands were sold for $15.95 to support a number of literacy projects. This was done prior to raising our funds with a Bookcase Literacy Banquet with each person receiving a complimentary copy of the book.
A few of the many topics include, “Our Attitudes Control Our Lives,” “Do You Have Class?,” “The Goose Story,” “Ten Causes Of Burnout,” “The Greatest Profession Of Them All,” “Shake Off Negative Comments,” “Making Wise Decisions,” “The $25,000 Idea,” “Do You Have A Loser’s Limp?,” “Nobody Owes You A Living,” “It Can’t Be My Boy,” “The Scars On The Door,” “The Least Important Word,” “A Letter From Prison,” “Society’s ‘Throw Away’ Kids,” “Have You ‘Hugged’ Your Child Today?”, “A Stranger Moved in With Us,” “Why The American Flag is Folded 13 Times” and countless others.
I am in the process now of completely rewriting the book to be a “New Revised Edition” that will be more in keeping with the theme and purpose of the “Bookcase for Every Child” project. At this point, I still have a limited supply of the original version on hand and need to sell them and apply the proceeds toward the printing cost of the new edition, plus free up some storage space to have when the new edition arrives from the printer.
For the cause of literacy I am making these available to my readers for $5.00 each, plus $3.00 S&H, while they last, and as I have said, I don’t personally earn a penny, as our project is all about giving back. As I have stated several times before, my vision is to have “Bookcase for Every Child” projects and Bookcase Literacy Banquets taking place in communities all across America in the years to come.
As we look to the future, this book could even become a collector’s item. It would also be a great way to support literacy by some companies giving a copy with the sale of large ticket items such as automobiles, appliances, homes and so forth. Just $5.00, plus $3.00 S&H, while they last. Make checks payable to “Bookcase for Every Child” and send to 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. Children in low-income families need our help.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)
