Dash Christmas Wish

Here at Dash into Learning, we have been so blessed to help thousands of children learn, and LOVE reading with our Dash books. Now we have a Christmas wish to share our love of books with those in need! Keep reading to find out how YOU can share books with children who really need them.

This week the Dash team had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Crystal from Samaritan's Village. Samaritan Daytop Village is a human services organization providing help throughout New York City and its surrounding boroughs. Crystal works at one of the family shelters located in Brooklyn. In our short conversation with her, Crystal told us about the over 120 children, ages newborn to 17 that live in this shelter. Families stay at the shelter, while Samaritan Daytop Village helps with employment, housing and more. 

The shelter has almost NO books for the children. Crystal would LOVE to build a library in her shelter to give children access to books for them to enjoy while they are in their rooms. These books would not only give the children something to do, but would give them the chance to imagine and escape their current difficulties. The biggest hurdle is getting the books. Crystal’s idea is great but Samaritan Daytop Village did not have funding to help get the books to fill the shelves, so Crystal went on her own personal mission to fill those bookshelves herself. This is where DASH and YOU come in! After hearing Crystal’s desire for these children, we of course, could not help but jump on board. We were more than happy to donate Dash Readers, Dash into Happy, Dash into Poetry and Handwriting books to help fill these shelves. We have donated over 50 books so far!

So, why do we share this with all of you? Listening to Crystal’s desire and hearing about these kids made us want to help beyond the Dash books we sent. We want to help FILL these bookshelves, and we need your help. In the spirit of Christmas, we have a Dash Christmas Wish. It is super simple but can make a huge difference to so many children.  Our Dash Christmas Wish is for all of our followers to send ONE (or more if you’d like) book to Crystal at the La Quinta Shelter in Brooklyn, NY. Wrapping and shipping these books with your children will be such a wonderful memory and reminder of what’s really important during Christmas. Maybe leave a note in each book! What a great way to spread a little cheer this holiday season, and give to those who really need it! 

Step 1: Purchase one of your favorite books, new or gently used (for any age range). We added a little picture and note inside of ours.

Step 2: Ship the Book to Crystal. LaQuinta Family Shelter Attn: Crystal Colon 1229 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, NY 11216. If you purchase from Amazon, you can send it right to Crystal from there! Ship Media mail for the cheapest shipping price!

We hope you will be part of our Christmas Wish and share in our excitement as we spread some Christmas cheer, through giving, this holiday season. Tag us on instagram with the books you send! Let's fill their shelves! We’d love to see!

— Madeleine L’Engle