As a Gilmer childhood literacy nonprofit turns 15, its members are glad to be back out in the community registering kids to receive free books after being unable for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kids Ferst in Gilmer County, which celebrates its 15 anniversary this month, is run today much as it was when starting out in 2007 — by a community action team (CAT) of volunteers who love spreading the joy of reading.
“Currently, we’re serving about 65 percent of the eligible children in the county. I think one of our greatest challenges is finding all the children in Gilmer County who are eligible,” said Kids Ferst President Galen Forbes, a retired educator. “(Even) if we see a parent in Walmart, we’ll walk up to them and ask if their children are registered.”
Kids Ferst takes its name from the Ferst Readers, the Madison, Ga.-based parent group named for founder Robin Ferst Marhaver. Then called the Ferst Foundation, the program began in 1999 as a way to get books in the hands of low-income families with children approaching kindergarten age.
Today, volunteer teams in almost 80 Georgia counties partner with the Ferst Readers to mail one age-appropriate book a month to registered kids till they turn 5.
Parents and guardians pay nothing to receive the books by mail. It’s the responsibility of CAT members to raise enough money to keep the program going in their counties, confirmed Forbes.
“A group of mostly educators selects the books, which are (from) Georgia publishers. The Ferst Readers in Madison is our fiscal agent, and they mail out all the books. Every month, it costs about $3,000 to send the books, so we always have to maintain that amount of money coming in,” she added.
The first book newly-enrolled children receive is “Read to Me,” a picture book that introduces parents to reading aloud to their little ones. Upon graduating out of the program, the last book they receive is “Wemberly Worried,” which features a worrysome young mouse starting school.
“It’s about soothing anxiety of the first day of school,” said Forbes. “Along with the books come some activities and parent involvement things to do with the kids.”
So far, Kids Ferst has provided almost 190,000 books to kids in Gilmer County. More than 2,000 children have turned 5 and graduated out of the program since it started here. Forbes said the group hopes to soon reach its 200,000th mailed book.
“Surely we will by the end of 2023, but we hope to hit that number by the end of this year,” she added.
Judy Harvey, a Kids Ferst founder who still volunteers, said she and Beth Gentile, then-director of the Gilmer Learning Center, collaborated to get the free book program going here in April 2007.
Harvey and her husband, Emil, had visited their grandkids in another county and saw that they received books in the mail.
“I asked them where the books came from because they were so excited. They just loved it. It turned out they were from the Ferst Foundation,” she said.
Harvey volunteered at the Gilmer Community Food Pantry then, and families who came to the pantry to get food were some of the earliest Kids Ferst registrants. Things just grew from there, Harvey said.
“We jumped right in at first, but we also had to get the word out. Faith, Hope and Charity actually bailed us out one time in the beginning because we had more kids than we had money. We’ve since learned that we have to raise our funds before we can get a lot of children (registered),” Harvey said.
Donations and grant funding make the book mailings possible, and securing the funds needed to keep the program moving is a constant challenge, Harvey confirmed. Fortunately, Kids Ferst has established a solid reputation as a nonprofit built around reading to children early and often.
“At first, when we would go out and ask people if their kids were signed up to get free books, they would look at us like we had three eyes. They thought there was a catch to it somehow. We’ve come a long way. It’s been alive for 15 years, and we’re happy (about that),” Harvey said.
The pandemic has negatively affected both the group’s registration and fundraising efforts, but, with COVID restrictions loosening, their numbers are starting to climb again. Almost 1,000 Gilmer children now receive books in the mail each month.
“During the pandemic, we couldn’t get out and register kids, but we’re growing again both in volunteers and children. Things are looking better,” Harvey said.
Kids Ferst CAT members meet the third Friday of each month at the Gilmer County Library. Meetings start at 10 a.m. and are open to the public. The CAT meetings are not only for discussing the group’s current business, but also a good way for potential volunteers to learn more about the organization, Forbes confirmed.
Kids Ferst volunteers will be at two April events signing up more to receive books. They’ll be on hand for a family literacy night at Huff-Mosley Memorial Stadium at Gilmer High School Friday, April 29, from 6-8 p.m., and celebrating their 15th anniversary at a special Gilmer County Library storytime Thursday, April 14, at 10:30 a.m.
For those who miss those in-person sign-up opportunities, Kids Ferst registration forms are available at the local public library, and registration can also be done online at ferstreaders.org.
“We’re looking to register more kids. That’s our big thing right now. We want to find that 35 percent of the population we’re missing,” said Forbes.