Helping Schools Affected by Superstorm Sandy

As families, teachers and students living in the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey repair their homes and communities, Scholastic is helping schools and libraries rebuild with a donation of 1 million books.

Schools and libraries in the tri-state region suffering significant damage from the storm can request a book grant at www.scholastic.com/bookgrants. Grant requests will be accepted through December 31, 2012. We are working closely with the nonprofit Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. (K.I.D.S.) to help distribute the books and instructional resources through its warehouses to local schools and libraries.

For educators, parents and caregivers, Scholastic is also providing free online resources to support children’s social and emotional recovery, including tips from the Yale Child Study Center to assist adults helping children cope with stress and disasters, book lists that help explain how storms happen in child-friendly terms, and age-appropriate coverage of the storm and recovery by the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps.

“All of us at Scholastic are committed to getting these books, lesson plans and other learning materials into the affected communities as soon as possible in the hope that we can provide support for our young people as they return to schools that need extra resources,” said Richard Robinson, Scholastic’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

How you can help
Many schools have contacted us to find out how to help the relief effort. An easy way is through the donation of Scholastic Dollars. You can request the transfer of Scholastic Dollars in any amount from your account to any school with a Scholastic Book Fairs account. Simply submit in writing on your school stationery or letterhead your donation request. Please include the following information:

• Request to transfer/donate and reason (Superstorm Sandy Relief effort)
• Your name and account number
• The name and account number (if known) of the school to receive the Scholastic Dollars
• Amount of Scholastic Dollars profit (non-expiring) to transfer
• Your name or name of person requesting the transfer

You should email your request to scholasticdollars@scholasticbbookfairs.com or fax it to (407) 829-8160. We will match your request to an affected school in the tri-state area and notify you once the transfer is complete. If you would like to donate to a specific school, please indicate this in your request. For more information, please contact us at scholasticdollars@scholasticbookfairs.com.

Schools are also using proceeds from their All for Books loose change fund to purchase books to send to affected schools. Scholastic Book Fairs matches All for Books contributions with donations of up to a million books to the Kids in Need Foundation and Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.). For more information about All for Books, please visit http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/programs/allforbooks/.

Many organizations are assisting with relief efforts. For other ways to help or get involved, please visit:

• State specific: New Jersey, New York, CBS by Type and State
• Restore the Shore
• Red Cross
• Kids in Distressed Situations