Books for Collier Kids Awarded

Books for Collier Kids (BCK), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a steady stream of new books to children in low-income families throughout Collier County, was awarded a $17,000 Windstar Gives Back 2021 grant from the Windstar Charitable Foundation.

According to BCK Chair Sallie Williams, “In 2020, Windstar helped us provide more than 5,000 books to 495 children in East Naples/Bayshore area schools. Their generous 2021 grant for $17,000 is crucial support for Books for Collier Kids’ existing programs in this area of Collier County, especially as the number of children living in poverty continues to grow as a result of the pandemic.”

The Windstar grant ensures BCK will distribute one new, age-appropriate book to 550-750 pre-K through second grade students each month, August to May, at Shadowlawn Elementary, Avalon and Garden Montessori schools, East Naples Community Center Daycare, as well as other nonprofit daycare and early learning centers in the East Naples area. Any extra books will be available to summer programs or school libraries by request.

Launched in 2008 as a fundraiser for a local charity, Windstar Gives Back is a members-only event held each fall at Windstar on Naples Bay. By 2016, the event and its impact on the community had grown to such a point that Windstar established the 501(c)3 Windstar Club Charitable Foundation to receive donations and make grants. In 2020, the Foundation distributed more than $108,000 to five area charities, including $13,125 to Books for Collier Kids. From 2008 and through 2021, the Windstar Gives Back event has distributed more than $1 million to several charities serving children in the Bayshore area.

Books for Collier Kids provides new books to children in-need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy: access to books. Launched in 2005 as First Book-Collier County, BCK has distributed nearly 1.5 million new, high-quality, age-appropriate and personalized books to pre-K, kindergarten, first- and second-grade students in-need to enhance their literacy development.

The all-volunteer charity partners with more than 20 local organizations, including the Collier County Public Schools, Friends of Foster Children Forever, Fun Time Early Childhood Academy, Habitat for Humanity of Collier County, Guadalupe Center, Grace Place for Children and Families and Christ Child Society of Naples.

For more information, please call Sallie Williams, Board Chair at 239-394-4062. To learn more about Books for Collier Kids, visit www.BooksforCollierKids.org.