Submitted by Michelle Maddox
Nassau Ferst Foundation
June 7, 2016 5:53 a.m.
The Nassau Ferst Foundation is an opportunity for EVERY child from Birth-4
years old to receive a FREE book every month in the mail until their 5th
birthday! All they have to do is register!
We have six children registered and we have received almost $2500 in
donations from private citizens and the Hilliard Friends of the Library,
enough to send a book every month for a year to 70 Nassau County children!
Ferst Foundation(http://www.ferstfoundation.org/) began in 1999 in Georgia
with its founder, Robin (Ferst) Marhaver, who now resides in Amelia Island.
Her goal was to put books in the hands of children; which we all know
increases the children’s success in school. With almost 5,000,000 books
distributed to over 350,000 children,now it has reached Nassau County,
Florida through the efforts of Michelle Maddox (CES Media Specialist),
Susan Howard (former CES Principal) and Robin Ferst Marhaver! Michelle and
Robin met at an Amelia Island Book Festival meeting and she agreed to help
them provide access to books at home for every child.
Our summer goals are to increase visibility for investing in the program
within the county and to focus registering the children at the Peck Center
in Fernandina Beach, Head Start (all Nassau locations) and Step-by-Step
children! YPS and Callahan Elementary Schools Pre-K students were already
given the opportunity to sign up, as well as Bryceville and Hilliard Public
Libraries have forms available. We will be placing registration forms at
all the Nassau County Public Libraries.
To ensure the children who sign up will receive books, we would also like
to secure some local business partners/sponsors and private citizen
donations. Some examples of sponsors and donations:
-$36 sponsors one child for one year
-$360 sponsors 10 children for one year
-Businesses can host a Ferst night on the first ______ (day of choice) each
month and a percentage of the sales go to Ferst
-Businesses can assist with printing costs (reg forms, donation forms)
-Civic/School organizations can hold fundraisers and support Ferst
We will be hosting a CAT (Community Action Team) meeting on June 16th, 9:00
am at the Full Service School in Yulee. If you are interested in enhancing
the lives of children, can assist with registrations or fundraising, we
would love to have you attend. You can contact CAT Team Leader, Michelle
Maddox, at [email protected].