Donations help Scripps Fund give 260K books to kids in need

The Scripps Howard Fund’s ninth annual “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign will invest a record $1.5 million in childhood literacy, providing over 260,000 new books to children at low-income schools across the United States.

This campaign focuses on reaching underserved and vulnerable children living in poverty, with a special emphasis on kindergarten through third-grade students who are still learning to read.

The “If You Give a Child a Book …” campaign receives support from The E.W. Scripps Company, its employees, the communities it serves and Scripps family members. On Sept. 4, the Fund matched that day’s donations, which led to more than $170,000 raised from community members in a single day.

For every $6 donated, the Cincinnati-based Fund gives a book to a child in need. The organization’s aim is to provide every student in partner Title I schools with 10 books each year.

Beyond the campaign, Scripps-owned TV stations and national networks distribute free books during school-based book fairs, allowing children to choose books to take home. Scripps has a partnership with Scholastic, a publishing, education and media company. Scholastic has donated an additional 25,000 books to benefit nonprofits that support childhood literacy.

“The number of books in a child’s home is one of the greatest predictors of a child’s success,” said Meredith Delaney, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund. “Our goal is to invest in these children year after year, allowing them to build their own libraries at home.”

With the funds raised through this year’s campaign, the total number of books distributed since 2016 will surpass 1.5 million.

The Scripps Howard Fund invested more than $8.7 million in charitable gifts in 2023 for journalism education, childhood literacy, and community giving.