The Chatham Education Foundation (CEF) has received a $4,375 grant from the Galloway Ridge Chatham County Charitable Fund to host a free book fair for children at the Nature Trail in May 2025. The Nature Trail is a mobile home community of approximately 200 Latino families whose children attend North Chatham Elementary and Pollard Middle School.
The book fair will be a part of CEF’s Books on Break program, which has hosted free book fairs at Chatham County schools in low-income communities since 2016. The aim of the program is to prevent “summer slide” by giving students access to books during the summer months. Depending on the grade level, students get to pick out and take home 3 to 5 books each to keep forever. Money to purchase the books comes from individual donations and grants.
In May 2024, CEF co-hosted an inaugural Books on Break book fair at the Nature Trail’s community center. While many of the neighborhood’s children visited the book fair, we want to reach even more students this year, so CEF will be adding food and increasing promotion to get families excited about coming to pick out their books.
On the day of the book fair, volunteers will meet students as they get off the bus, help them with snacks, and guide them to a wide selection of age-appropriate books, including bilingual titles and many of the most in-demand titles, favorite authors, and genres. Once students select their books, they will be given an easy-to-complete reading log. Those who return the completed reading log before the new school year starts, can claim a prize.
“The families in the Nature Trail neighborhood are eager to see their children improve their reading skills despite facing several challenges,” said Kathy Havens who oversees the book fairs. “Many of the Nature Trail’s hardworking families lack the time and money to buy books for home libraries. Most families also do not have available transportation to take their children to and from the library in Pittsboro.”
Research shows children can lose up to two months of reading skills over the summer. In addition to helping prevent this “summer slide,” CEF hopes to foster a love of books among young readers. To accomplish this, Havens emphasizes that it’s important for students to have a say in what they read. “We believe in book ownership, student choice, and providing a range of high-interest books,” she said. “We are truly grateful to Galloway Ridge for providing us the opportunity to bring quality books to this underserved community and get more kids excited about reading.”
The Galloway Ridge Chatham County Charitable Fund is the principal charitable arm of Galloway Ridge, located within Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, NC. The fund was established in 2006 as a means for residents and other donors to support Chatham County nonprofits as well as school and governmental agency projects through tax deductible donations.
