St. John's Book Drive
Donation protected
Dear friends,
As most of you know, I started working at St. John's Well Child and Family Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving the vulnerable and underserved pediatric population in South and South Central Los Angeles back in August 2017. Shortly after starting at St. John's, I posted on Facebook asking friends to donate books to my clinic so that I would be able to give each child age 6 months to 5 years a book when they come in for their well child visit. There was an outpouring of support, and we received many new and gently used books both in English and Spanish from friends near and far; so thank you to those who have donated! As part of all pediatric well child visits, we perform developmental screenings and I have noticed that there is a higher rate of developmental delay in the area of communications seen in my patient population as compared to that of the general population. There are many factors contributing to this, from lack of resources both within the family and the community due to poverty, to low caregiver education level and caregiver involvement. And as demonstrated in a study by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley titled "The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3," by age 3, children from lower socioeconomic status will hear roughly 30 million fewer words than those of their more affluent peers. By giving a book to a child, my hope is to encourage caregivers to read to their children to promote literacy and language development. However big or small, you too can be a part of helping to close this 30 million word gap by donating to this great cause. Your donations will go toward purchasing books through our partner organization Reach Out and Read, partner bookstore Children's Book World, and through First Book. I will be selecting the books myself to make sure they are the best deal and are developmentally appropriate for each age group.
Thank you times a million!
Patricia Campbell MD
As most of you know, I started working at St. John's Well Child and Family Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving the vulnerable and underserved pediatric population in South and South Central Los Angeles back in August 2017. Shortly after starting at St. John's, I posted on Facebook asking friends to donate books to my clinic so that I would be able to give each child age 6 months to 5 years a book when they come in for their well child visit. There was an outpouring of support, and we received many new and gently used books both in English and Spanish from friends near and far; so thank you to those who have donated! As part of all pediatric well child visits, we perform developmental screenings and I have noticed that there is a higher rate of developmental delay in the area of communications seen in my patient population as compared to that of the general population. There are many factors contributing to this, from lack of resources both within the family and the community due to poverty, to low caregiver education level and caregiver involvement. And as demonstrated in a study by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley titled "The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3," by age 3, children from lower socioeconomic status will hear roughly 30 million fewer words than those of their more affluent peers. By giving a book to a child, my hope is to encourage caregivers to read to their children to promote literacy and language development. However big or small, you too can be a part of helping to close this 30 million word gap by donating to this great cause. Your donations will go toward purchasing books through our partner organization Reach Out and Read, partner bookstore Children's Book World, and through First Book. I will be selecting the books myself to make sure they are the best deal and are developmentally appropriate for each age group.
Thank you times a million!
Patricia Campbell MD
Give $50 to help get this fundraiser to its goal
Organizer
Pat Campbell
Organizer
Santa Monica, CA
