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Duffy Books in Homes distributes books in Alexandria, Virginia - Source: ONE News -
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Last week students in the Alexandria school district of Virginia received 24,000 free books because of a New Zealand company, a New Zealand charity, a New Zealand writer, and a clever idea.
Kiwis are familiar with the Duffy Books in Homes programme.
Started by Alan Duff, the author of Once Were Warriors, it's been
running for over 15 years. Based on the radical notion that staring
at a succession of inert shapes (known to Luddites as "words") on a
page will change young lives, Duffy Books in Homes delivers books
all over New Zealand.
What New Zealanders may not know is that there's an American
version, called Duffy Books in Homes USA. No points for originality
on the name, but you don't need it when the principle is so
valuable: Give kids from low income backgrounds books, and the
world will start to open for them.
The organisation is still small in the US. Mostly, it serves the upstate New York area. But last week Duffy Books in Homes USA unleashed in Alexandria, Virginia what its President Richard Quest told me was "the largest single donation made in our history". Possibly the broadest too. Usually it targets children aged 6-11; these books were for 6-18-year-olds.
The charity is supported by Mainfreight, a New Zealand trucking company operating in the US Philanthropy is seen as an aspect of business success here. You give back. Sure, it looks good; you choreograph it, you get the news cameras along, but besides burnishing your image, something useful might happen.
Here are the stats on those books. They were all brand new, and all hard covers. That's a lot better than my library. An anonymous donor paid around $NZ150,000 for them.
Loaded onto a 16 metre long trailer, they were carted from a warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska: 22 pallets, just over 18 tonnes worth of tomes. It being America and everything, a ceremony happened. Kiwi Ambassador to the US Mike Moore was present. A ribbon was cut. Richard Quest tells me that when the back of the truck opened, there was an audible gasp from the kids.
Our somewhat limited sense of proportion generally insists that charity should flow from the rich to the poor, from the strong to the weak, from the large to the small. I like the idea that this is back-to-front.
Oh sure, the anonymous donor is likely well-off, but it's thrilling that a charitable notion hatched in Hastings in 1992 is able to introduce American youngsters to the pleasure and dangers of reading. It shows that good ideas can travel. It shows that good intentions are portable.
So, what are you going to do today?
Follow Tim on Twitter @TimWilsonBarrio
Read more Tim Wilson opinion .
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