MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Palymyra Foundation continues to inspire and encourage children at the basic school level to get excited about reading and writing through the non-profit organisation’s Books4Kids Jamaica programme.

Earlier this week, the organisation announced that through the initiative, 11,367 kindergarten children at 113 schools across Jamaica received books during the course of this year — a record since the inception of the programme in 2007.

“This year has been a very successful year for Books4Kids Jamaica, a year of many firsts. We broke the US$100,000 fund-raising mark for the first time. A record number of 140 sponsors and volunteers participated in the delivery of books to the children, and with 11,367 kindergarten children receiving the tools they need to learn and flourish this year, we reached our goal of distributing book bags to over 10,000 children in a year,” said Ragni Trotta, chairman of the foundation.

Under the initiative, each child receives a “Books4 Kids book bag” containing a 300-page Brain Quest Workbook, a kindergarten reading book, a pack of crayons, and a pencil.

The delivery of the material has become a much anticipated event among the four-and five-year-old recipients, as well as teachers, principals and parents at schools where they are distributed.

“The book distribution is a blessing; it is something that both the children and I look forward to,” said Constance Graham, the principal of the Montego Bay Infant School, adding that the material gives the children a sense of ownership.

Shivena Spence-Rankine, parent of a student at Green Pond Infant School, also in Montego Bay, said, “We use the Brain Quest Workbook every day; my son loves it. It makes learning fun and it is so easy the grasp the concept”.

Principal of Chatsworth Primary and Infant School in Maroon Town, St James, Elicia Fowler, noted that many of the children who receive the books are from a poor socio-economic background, and “many unemployed parents struggle to buy books”.

The fund-raising efforts for the programme, as well as the distribution of the books, are supported by a number of companies.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness and minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister Daryl Vaz were among the volunteers who participated in the delivery of books this year.

The prime minister lauded the foundation for the initiative as he urged the private sector to assist the education sector.

“I want to thank Palmyra Foundation for their contribution and encourage other corporate sponsors to make their contribution to our education sector,” Holness said.