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Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia was among several groups honored by the Virginia Recycling Association for exemplary waste reduction and recycling programs. Goodwill won VRA's Best in/of the Show category for its partnership with Henrico County Public Schools to supply books to students and families. It was honored during an Oct. 30 luncheon in Charlottesville.
This year’s award winners were selected from nine nominations and represented the best of recycling innovation, education, and community engagement from across Virginia.
Goodwill officials established the partnership in early 2017 after seeing a news story requesting the donation of new and gently used books to support the school division’s new Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum Challenge in secondary schools. At the time, Goodwill was paying to have 250,000 pounds of books recycled each month, which was costing money and seemed wasteful.
Knowing there must be a better way to process and distribute such a large volume of books, Henrico County and Goodwill established a weekly opportunity for school personnel to visit Goodwill headquarters and “dive for books.”
School staff sort through thousands of books, selecting those that will be utilized and loved at their schools, and Goodwill supplies bins and assistance in loading books into personal vehicles.
The free books are now enjoyed by students in elementary, middle and high schools; Henrico Book Nooks (free libraries) around the county; and the Department of Family Engagement bus which provides giveaways to neighborhoods and community, civic, and school events. As of September, the initiative has placed 148,931 free books into the hands of teachers, librarians, students, and families, supplying a reliable source of books to the families in most need and to teachers who have limited budgets for books.
