Domtar Corporation announced Monday that employees from the company’s Washington Court House Converting Center will visit Belle Aire Intermediate School Wednesday to read and donate 232 books to the children from under-served families, as part of its partnership with First Book.
Domtar makes a wide variety of everyday products from sustainable wood fiber, such as copy paper and diapers. Domtar’s Washington House Converting Center employs 74 people in the local community.
Employees from Domtar will read to all 180 fourth graders at the at Belle Aire Intermediate School, located at 1120 High St. in Washington Court House, from 8:15-9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Each of the fourth graders will be able to take home one of the 232 books donated by Domtar, and the remaining books will be added to the classroom libraries at the school.
Just late last year, Domtar donated 200 books to the third graders of Belle Aire Intermediate School, as well as the class libraries.
“Domtar is so grateful for the wonderful relationship that we’ve developed with the students and teachers of Belle Aire Intermediate School through our book grants and volunteer reading events,” said Domtar Corporate Responsibility Manager Heather Alverson Stowe. “We’re committed to promoting literacy, one of Domtar’s core corporate giving pillars, by continuing to put books in the hands of children in the Washington Court House community—it’s a cause that is close to our hearts and core to our business.”
As part of its Powerful Pages campaign, Domtar has partnered with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books to children in need, since 2012, to provide more than half a million dollars in grants to schools and programs in towns that are home to Domtar facilities. Domtar’s grants provide funding to educators to purchase books through the First Book Marketplace, a website available exclusively to First Book programs, and then the school’s children are able to bring home the new books.
“Access to books is transformational in the lives of our children and the educators who serve them,” said Kyle Zimmer, First Book president and CEO. “Domtar’s work with First Book has opened up a world of opportunities to children who might not otherwise have books at home.”
