My younger brother, Matt, runs the blog Relentless Pursuit of Acronyms, about his time as a 4th grade teacher in New Orleans with the Teach for America program. TFA places teachers in low-income areas of the US to bridge the Achievement Gap. I worked for them as a recruiter in college and convinced Matt to get involved with them as well.

In any case, you can imagine that the schools in New Orleans need some help. Matt’s school doesn’t even have a building post-Katrina; they meet in a series of trailers. There are a lot of things his students could probably use, but right now they are desperate for books. It’s difficult to teach reading when there is no classroom library, and we all know how vital to long-term success good reading skills are.

This holiday season, Matt is asking for donations of books. He lists a few specific needs, but he’ll take anything. And, if you have books outside of the 3rd-5th grade level that you would be willing to donate, Matt will make sure they get to other classes at his school, or into the hands of other TFA teachers in the area.

Matt will be making appearances in Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Ohio over the next few weeks and, depending on your location of course, might be able to arrange direct pick-ups. Please consider donating a book (or two or ten) to invest in these children’s future. You can contact Matt at his blog, or leave me a comment here and I’ll make sure that you two get in touch.

And please, pass this on to any friends you think could help. Let’s get his class and his school some great books!!!