First Book, Borders® and Waldenbooks® Holiday Program Brings New Books To Children in Need

First Book, an award-winning nonprofit organization, and Borders Group, Inc., a global retailer of books, music and movies with more than 1,100 stores worldwide, announced that they will again team up for another holiday giving campaign. This is the third consecutive year that Borders, Waldenbooks and First Book have joined together for a holiday giving campaign.

Beginning November 1 and ending December 24, customers in Borders and Waldenbooks stores will be encouraged to donate $1, $3, $5 or more to First Book as they make their holiday purchases. The funds donated by Borders and Waldenbooks customers will be converted to gift cards and distributed to local organizations affiliated with First Book to purchase books for the children they serve.

Borders and First Book have been partnering for literacy since November 2005 through various programs, such as holiday fundraising drives that have taken place in all Borders and Waldenbooks stores across the country.  Borders Group’s holiday fundraising effort in 2006 for First Book raised more than $780,000 through customer donations and a corporate gift.  Since its’ founding in 1992, First Book has distributed more than 50 million books to children in low-income families.

NORWESCAP/First Book – Hunterdon County is part of a national network of First Book Advisory Boards who provide new books to children in need in communities across the country.  Comprised of volunteers from all sectors of the community, NORWESCAP/First Book – Hunterdon County works to promote and facilitate the distribution of new books to programs in Hunterdon County including helping to grant the funds raised in the 2007 Borders and Waldenbooks holiday giving campaign.  Since 2001 NORWESCAP/ First Book – Hunterdon County  has distributed 15,000 books to local programs serving low-income children such as Country Tyme Day Care, Right At Home Day Care, Hunterdon County Educational Services, Hunterdon County Public Health Nursing, Fisherman’s Mark, ARC, Hunterdon County Youth Services and Smart Start Academy. 

”We are absolutely delighted to work with Borders again this holiday season,” said First Book President, Kyle Zimmer. “First Book is proud to share Borders’ belief in enriching lives through the magic of books and reading. Through the phenomenal generosity of Borders and its customers, we have been able to bring thousands of brand new books to children who might not otherwise have such an opportunity.  We look forward to teaming up with Borders to make the holiday season more joyful through giving.”

About First Book
First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Through hundreds of local Advisory Boards, the First Book National Book Bank, and the First Book Marketplace, the organization provides an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs. First Book has provided more than 50 million new books to children in need in thousands of communities nationwide. For more information about First Book, please visit www.FirstBook.org or call 866-393-1222.

About Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BGP. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., the company is a $4.1 billion global retailer of books, music, movies, and gift and stationery items. Through its subsidiaries, Borders Group has more than 30,000 employees and operates over 1,100 stores. More information on Borders Group is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com.

For information about how you can help NORWESCAP/First Book-Hunterdon County, please call 908-782-8183.

NORWESCAP is a non-profit community action agency established in 1965 that creates opportunities for over 30,000 low-income people in northwest NJ by providing a large portfolio of self-sufficiency and emergency services.  The mission of NORWESCAP is “Fighting Poverty. Creating Opportunities.  Changing Lives.”