Support MOSS Kids Diverse Bookmobile for Rural Youth

Hi, we're the co-founders Kara & Kyle Cecchi of MOSS Kids Book Project -- a children's literacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization bringing diverse and inclusive books to kids in rural Eastern NC. After moving to a tiny rural town in NC, Pinetops, we noticed the lack of diverse and inclusive children's literature AND the lack of space/opportunities for children to access free books, learn, grow, and be a part of their community. So we started MOSS Kids & we've been working diligently in our community for over 2 years. We have 9 free libraries with 4 more launching within the next few months. We bring our MOSS Kids Book Club to 5 Edgecombe County & Nash County public schools, to 2 public libraries, to a community garden, & to Drag Story Hour. We pop-up at our local PRIDE & Juneteenth festivals to hand out free books. We're getting ready to implement 2 new programs this Fall. Now, we want to take MOSS Kids to the streets.

So many children across the country right now are suffering from the lack of diverse and inclusive books. We want to change that. We did some research. We live in a diverse, underserved county. Our children's literacy scores are well below the state and national average, with 15% of kids reading at & above grade level. In our county, 15% of teens & young adults are neither in school nor working. We have over 11,000 kids under the age of 18 in our county & 37% of those children are living below the poverty line. That's more than 1.5x the rate in North Carolina and nearly double the rate in the United States. Through community surveys, the residents in our area have stressed a need for youth activities & spaces. Right now, our area has not been able to meet the needs of our youth & their families.

In this era of book bans & our current social climate, our youth deserves to see themselves and their history represented in books. Our youth also needs to see other people of different skin tones, ethnicities, and cultures in the books they read. And all children deserve to have a safe place to be themselves, to be kids. As libraries continue to fall under attack, we want to help fill the gap. Books are an essential tool for teaching key concepts such as acceptance, understanding, kindness, and empathy. Books are an essential tool to start having challenging, empowering, and important conversations. Books are also an escape for kids, a way for them to imagine, to dream, to hope. Help us raise our youth differently.

Here's what we hope to do:

This fundraiser is to help us to purchase a mini truck. Originally, we wanted to purchase a building. We toured the building. We loved the building. We envisioned our dreams coming true in that building. However, we couldn't afford that building. AND the more we thought about it, the more we realized that having a building isn't truly accessible to all. So we are making our dreams mobile. Originally, we wanted to purchase a bus. We loved the idea, but it's really hard to fund & with minimal reach it seemed unattainable. But this, a mini truck, we can finally see our dreams within our reach. By creating a diverse bookmobile library, we are able to bring the books to families. We are able to bring our community to families. So, again, we are humbly asking for your help to create a safe space for kids to learn & grow. Help us give our deserving community a chance to thrive.