No More Poverty and co-founders Michael Omidi and Julian Omidi support Bookends and its literacy program.
No More Poverty and its co-founders Michael Omidi, MD and Julian Omidiare new supporters of the children’s literacy non-profit BookEnds. With the help of student volunteers and community partnerships, BookEnds recycles children’s books to create and vitalize libraries in schools and youth organizations. Young people donate books they have outgrown or no longer want to others in need while learning the joy of giving and serving their community.
The clear connection between literacy and poverty makes this a worthwhile and effective cause for No More Poverty to support. Forty-three percent of adults with literacy skills below a basic functional level live in poverty compared to only four percent of those with advanced reading and comprehensive levels. Three of four food stamp recipients perform in the lower literacy levels (below or at a base level) and 90 percent of welfare recipients are high school dropouts.
“Reading is a fundamental skill in life and low levels of proficiency and comprehension are limiting as far as finding employment and caring for yourself and a family. Instilling a love for reading early in life helps motivate and inspire people to reach their potential and avoid the pitfalls and challenges associated with a life in poverty”, says Julian Omidi, co-founder of No More Poverty.
BookEnds is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 when eight year old Brandon Keefe compelled his third grade classmates to donate books from their homes to a local children’s home where his mother worked. Brandon’s compassionate effort was the beginning of Bookends and turned out to be the first of literally thousands of book drives! Today, his mother Robin Keefe is the organization’s president and together they have mobilized more than 220,000 young people to collect, sort and deliver over 2.1 million books to children in Southern California. BookEnds has provided more than a half a million children with books and completed or revitalized 585 libraries. The organization’s main source of books is recycled children’s books collected via book drive by student volunteers in schools and service organizations. The work instills the value of community service in student volunteers as they enjoy what is often their first opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. BookEnds creates readers and leaders and is about both the power and the promise of our children.
No More Poverty (nmp.org) is a not-for-profit charity organization with a pending 501(c)3 application founded by brothers Michael Omidi, M.D. and Julian Omidi. The organization seeks to end poverty at home and abroad by supporting the efforts of like-minded charities and agencies. Current efforts are focused on increasing awareness of and donations to charities already doing great work to address poverty and its staggering effects throughout the world. The plan is to expand our activities to include fostering business development and job creation in disenfranchised areas.
Join us in the fight for No More Poverty. Suggestions for worthy partners in the fight for No More Poverty are welcome. No More Poverty does not accept monetary support, but instead encourages direct donations to the charities featured on nmp.org. For more information, please visit Facebook/nmp.org or nmp.org.
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Source: Yahoo News It’s a No-Brainer: Higher Literacy Rates = Lower Poverty Rates – Michael Omidi and Julian Omidi Support BookEnds, a Non-profit Creating Readers and Leaders