Molina donates 5,000 books to Child Care Resource Center

The Molina Foundation donated 5,000 books Friday morning to the Child Care Resource Center of San Bernardino (CCRC) as part of its back-to-school “Launch into Learning” literacy campaign. Books came courtesy of First Book and Pearson and included a diversity of colorful Disney titles for your children such as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Winnie the Pooh,” and characters from “Frozen” and “Star Wars.”

“This generous donation from Molina will help the kids and families build a library in their home and enhances reading opportunities,” said CCRC Regional Director James Moses. “Books are critical in that it has different impacts – it can expand vocabulary, encourage love of learning and also build relationships between the child and adult who is reading.”

According to Moses the books will be distributed to several thousand families in the community through the CCRC and its various outreach events. The books will also be shared with its partner organizations.

“The purpose (of the donation) is to cultivate the child and family through literacy and the promotion of literacy,” said Molina’s Ruthy Argumedo, AVP Community Engagement. “Books may help to inspire children to become doctors or teachers, or simply put a smile on their faces.”

“Launch into Learning” literacy campaign was established to provide school readiness opportunities to young children and to get them back to grade level following an academically inactive summer.

Two dozen volunteers from Molina Healthcare were on-hand to organize and place personal notes in donated books as part of the company’s Volunteer Time Off program, which encourages workers to give back to the community by providing paid time off to do volunteer work with local charity organizations.

“We are excited to read these new books, especially “Alice in Wonderland,” when we get home,” said Betty Parker of Rialto with her 7-year-old daughter Isabel. “We have been buying back-to-school supplies and didn’t have anything in our budget for books, so this donation is very appreciated by us.”

For more information on the Child Care Resource Center, a non-profit that serves low-income families, call (909) 384-8000.