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KNB: Closing the Books

Kids Need Books began in the spring of 2016 with a conversation over coffee between Chuck Robinson, Ray Dellecker, Tim Farris, and me. From that initial meeting, KNB grew into a vibrant project that has delivered more than 131,000 free quality books into the hands and...
Rain Showers and Shower Gifts

Rain Showers and Shower Gifts

It’s late Wednesday afternoon and I am at a large low-income apartment complex with Kids Need Books (KNB). Usually I hand out books here in tandem with the school district’s Food LifeLine project, a kind of nourishment-for the-body-and-mind joint operation, but this...
Grief Beyond Measure

Grief Beyond Measure

I won’t be handing out books for a while. I am grieving the death of my beloved son Ben. This is his obituary: Annie and Joe Nolting sadly share the devastating news that their son Ben succumbed to his 23-year battle with anorexia nervosa. He fought long and...

Essential Work

Kids Need Books is back! We’ve handed out more than 3000 books over the last four weeks at a time when local kids need books more than ever. Our distribution model is not the same—no pop-up food banks for now—but we are adapting to working safely during the pandemic:...
Making a Difference in Deming

Making a Difference in Deming

Kids Need Books is sidelined until the COVID-19 crisis abates. In the meantime, here’s a story from last year. The temperature hovered at the freezing mark and ghostly tendrils of morning fog floated above the hemlocks and cedars. I eased my car in front of St....
Bringing Books to Migrant Worker Families

Bringing Books to Migrant Worker Families

Kids Need Books is sidelined until the COVID-19 crisis abates. In the meantime, here’s a story from last summer. The noon sun bakes the church grounds in Lynden. Leaves on the cottonwood trees are motionless in the still air. Although the outdoor food bank will...

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