Stay-at-home orders issued during the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the school year as families and teachers know it. The crisis changed lessons plans and how students, parents and teachers do school. From remote learning to teaching at home, all across North America school is quite different. This has created some unique challenges, especially for children facing poverty, who may not have access to educational resources at home. 

First Book, a nonprofit organization that provides new books and resources to the educators and kids who need them most, stepped up to help fill this gap. Requests for help began to flood in as schools were closed and only increased by the week. While its publishing partners have donated over eight million books so kids in need can continue learning at home, the organization needed help to ship educational materials to homes across North America.

Mars Associates Take Initiative and Pledge Additional Funds

That’s where the Mars brand AMERICAN HERITAGE^®  Chocolate stepped in—pledging additional funds to help the organization distribute over 50,000 books to nearly 20,000 students in underserved communities where we live and work. The books will be distributed through food banks, homeless shelters and aid organizations like Save the Children.

This donation is in addition our established partnership with First Book. Over the past two years, AMERICAN HERITAGE^® Chocolate has donated more than $80,000, resulting in the distribution of 28,000 books to 100,000 students.

For parents and educators who would like to take young students to virtual museums, take a tour and learn about American history on our educational resources page at AmericanHeritageChocolate.com.

Read more about how our $20 million donation is supporting the people, pets and communities around the world most affected by COVID-19.

Header Photo courtesy of Stephen Speranza