Recent Events, Programs, & Fundraisers
In 2023, as we celebrated our 25th anniversary in this community, we were so pleased to host TWO of our signature annual book distribution event, The Largest Book Party in St. Louis! We successfully brought this party to two different locations to reach more kids across St. Louis.
Success from
The Largest Book Party in St. Louis:
Florissant - Fall 2023
More than 1,300 new books distributed
directly to kids in an hour!
Over 300 children attended for a morning of story time, snacks, and picking out their new books to take home. The kids loved hearing stories read by local firemen, policemen, librarians and other volunteers. Each child was able to choose about 4 new books from a wide selection of titles within their reading level to take home and keep as their own.
Many thanks to our Presenting Sponsor: Saigh Foundation
And to our Additional Sponsors:
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Cardinals Care
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Staenberg Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis
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US Bank
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Walmart Store #3061
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Walmart Store #6474
Additional thanks to the St. Louis County Library Foundation, Delta Dental, Eye See Me, The City of Florissant: Parks & Recreation Department, and the James J. Eagan Center.
Thank you to our other volunteers and Board for helping to place more books in the hands of children - we couldn't do it without you!
Success from
The Largest Book Party in St. Louis:
Downtown - Fall 2023
More than 1,800 new books distributed
directly to kids in an hour!
Over 350 children attended at our new location of Busch Stadium downtown, for a morning of story time, snacks, and picking out their new books to take home. The kids loved hearing stories read by local firemen, policemen, librarians and other volunteers. Each child was able to choose about 4 new books from a wide selection of titles within their reading level to take home and keep as their own. On their way out, groups even got to say hello to Fredbird!
Many thanks to our Presenting Sponsor: Arthur and Helen Baer Foundation
And to our Additional Sponsors:
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US Bank
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Missouri Humanities with support from the Missouri Humanities Trust Fund
Additional thanks to the St. Louis Public Library and St. Louis Cardinals, LLC.
Thank you to our other volunteers and Board for helping to place more books in the hands of children - we couldn't do it without you!
Our third annual virtual Trivia Night
was a success with over $7,500 raised!
Thanks to everyone who participated whether as a sponsor, trivia player, donor, or silent auction bidder! Together we raised over $7,500, which will equal thousands of new books for the children in our area. We hope you'll join us in 2024!
Thank you sponsors!
Presenting Sponsor: Thompson Coburn LLP
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LL
The Borglum Breckenridge Team at Moneta
Baker & McKenzie LLP
Success from The Largest Book Party
in St. Louis - Fall 2022
More than 3,300 new books distributed directly to kids in an hour!
What a fabulous day and another successful event put "in the books!" Children, teachers, chaperones and volunteers gathered on September 27, 2022 at the James J. Eagan Center in Florissant, MO for the 10th annual Largest book Party in St. Louis.
The 428 children in attendance were grouped into more than 20 different reading stations and heard stories read by local firemen, policemen, librarians and other volunteers. A snack was provided and then the children chose 4 new books to take home and keep.
For groups who were not able to take field trips yet or couldn't attend the event due to our capacity limit, Books for STL Kids provided new books for approximately 352 additional children!
Thanks to our volunteer readers from the Florissant Police, Ferguson Police and the Florissant Valley Fire Department. We also had volunteer readers from Midwest BankCentre, Moneta and Sarah Bernard Realty.
Thank you all our other volunteers and Board for helping to place more books in the hands of children - we couldn't do it without you!
We'd like to acknowledge our sponsors who helped make this project a success this year:
Presenting Sponsor
Arthur and Helen Baer Foundation
Sponsors
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Saigh Foundation
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Staenberg Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis
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Sam's Club Store #8182 and #8125
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David & Valerie Weber
Books for STL Kids would also like to thank:
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St. Louis County Library Foundation
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Delta Dental
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Eye See Me African American Children's Bookstore
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The City of Florissant: Parks & Recreation Department
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The James J. Eagan Center
Book Parties - Book parties are held with a variety of groups at any time during the year. Age-appropriate stories are read to the children, a snack is provided and then the children are able to pick out a variety of books. In some cases, the children take home as many as five books to keep!
The Largest Book Party in Saint Louis - This is one of our favorite initiatives to make a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged children in our community. At The Largest Book Party, 400+ children from low-income families enjoy story time, snacks and picking out three to four new books to take home.
Penny-A-Page [retired fundraiser] - For 12 years, this annual read-a-thon in local schools was our signature fundraiser. Over the years sponsors have included St. Louis Suburban Reading Council, Baskin Robbins, Commerce Bank, UMB Bank, the St. Louis Rams and The Magic House. This highly successful project resulted in 5,700 students reading 1,061,045 pages and collecting $84,821 in donations! Any school is welcome to contact us for details on how to participate.
NCJW Back to School! Store - For more than 10 years, we have helped the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) with a book corner for their event. More than 1,000 children from low-income families enjoy an afternoon of “shopping” for school supplies and clothes and a few new books from us.
Strong Women & Families Health & Resource Fair - Books for STL Kids provides books to this Junior League of St. Louis event. In its 10th year, this resource fair was held at Grace Hill and brought women and resources together in the St. Louis community. More than 500 underserved women received information and services. We have been pleased to provide the children of these families with new books to take home and keep.
Fatherhood Walk & Rally - For 5 years, we distributed new books to participants in this fantastic event and spread the word about our mission.
Gift Wrapping at Barnes & Noble - Volunteers wrap books and other items at various Barnes & Noble stores during November and December. Donations are made for the gift wrapping service and customers learn more about Books for STL Kids while they wait.
Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive - In 2021, we were again named the recipient group for Barnes & Noble - Chesterfield as well as Barnes & Noble - Fenton. During the two-month holiday season, customers were asked to donate a book. Customers donated more than 2,000 new books between the two stores.
Motion for Kids - This annual holiday party, formerly called Project Angel Tree, is a partnership project between the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL), the Saint Louis Bar Foundation, the St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Cardinals, Saint Louis University and the Isaac Bruce Foundation. The party is for St. Louis area children with a parent in the Missouri prison system. For many years, we helped this worthy cause by giving books to their reading corner. The event served more than 3,000 underprivileged children annually.
Holiday Breakfast - Books for STL Kids sponsors an annual Holiday Breakfast. This event honors grant recipients, local partners and friends of Books for STL Kids. A video overview of the year’s activities is shared at the event.