By Aleksandra Strzelecka | Project Leader
The Universal Reading Foundation works to support literacy skills among children in Poland. #BooksGiveRefuge project focuses on Ukrainian children and those who are especially in need and excluded from the book culture.
Over the last six months we've donated 1,600 books to children living in Poland so far this year. Thanks to our Donors, books were gifted to refugee children, orphanes and foster children of social welfare centres. We've managed to help 20 institutions in total.
Among other places, books reached the Refugee Center in Chrzanow, where Ukrainian families are staying, two outposts of the Center for Integration of Foreigners in Wroclaw and Zielona Gora, and the International Rescue Committee in Gdynia.
We've also donated books to school libraries, where children from Ukraine can lend books in their native language and participate in reading workshops where books in Polish and Ukrainian are read together.
Books were also transfered to the Ronald McDonald Foundation, which provides children with free medical examinations. During these visits each child receives a book from the Universal Reading Foundation.
The #BooksGiveRefuge campaign doesn’t only supports children from Ukraine living in Poland. In cooperation with the Health of the Future Foundation, this year we donated 3,800 books to children and adults living in Ukraine.
We know how important it is that children read and are read to. Therefore the access to the books are crucial point of our work. We also try to reach adults - parents, guardians, carers and educators with educational materials we also translate into Ukrainian.
Studies have shown that thanks to the books:
- stress levels are reduced by more than 60% after the first 6 minutes of reading
- children who read are able to build relationships with other people with more ease
- reading together on a regular basis can help work through traumas
That is why we are so committed and eager to continue our #BooksGiveRefuge campaign. A huge barrier to become a reader is the lack of books.
Thanks to your support we will be able to acquire more books that we can provide many more children with.
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