Soon after the turn of the century, I learned something that would change my life forever. The late Mrs. Eva Easley, a faithful reader of my column in Bluefield, W.Va., told me that she had learned from a reliable source that 61 percent of low-income families in our nation had no books in their homes. Can you imagine what kind of future a child reared in this kind of environment has? To be sure, it would not be good. If you check the statistics, you will learn that a great deal of the crime and violence in our nation is caused by people who come from this kind of home environment.

            This just confirms what I have believed all along, and this is to say that EDUCATION is really the key to a safer, more harmonious nation. In a couple of years after Eva’s comment to me we started the Conway Bookcase Project. Since then, we have given more than 900 personalized bookcases and a starter set of books to children in our local Head Start program. These children must be low income to be in the Head Start program. With a little time, effort, and organization we can all be a part of the solution. If you have good, slightly used, children’s books in your home, you can donate them to low-income children in your community. The newspaper can probably tell you where to take them.

            The community where I live, Conway, Arkansas, is a leader in many ways. In 2005, former Police Chief Randall Aragon and I started the Conway Bookcase Project to give a personalized oak bookcase and a starter set of books to these children. We have not missed a year since 2005, even though we did not have a fund-raising banquet for a couple of years due to Covid. We did have enough money set aside from our annual banquet to purchase and give the bookcases and books anyway.

In thinking ahead, here is what I hope you will consider. On the short term, if you have good, used children’s books that have character and moral value stories, donate them to your local Head Start program. If you don’t have a Head Start program, take them to your local or county library and donate them for this purpose. While it’s going to take a little time, we have plans to begin bookcase projects in every large community in the nation and you will have the opportunity to be involved. Due to my age, I knew that I had to find a group to take over the project when I am gone, and I definitely want it to continue. As I thought about who in our community could do the best job, I decided on our local Kiwanis Club. A couple of their members were already strong supporters through the years — the late Sen. Stanley Russ and the late Dr. Denver Prince.

Here in Conway, the local Kiwanis Club is the largest club in the community and has some wonderful members who can carry the project forward. While I don’t have all the details worked out, I am talking with Kiwanis International with headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., about adopting the project as their own. After all, the Kiwanis Motto is “Serving the Children of the World.” Please pray with me that this will take place. It is one of our nation’s greatest needs and it will change children’s lives.

—(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)