2018: A Year in Review of Giving Back
2019 is in full swing and we’re so happy to celebrate another spin around the sun with our amazing staff, dedicated customers, and gracious community partners! Since it’s the time of the season, we at Greenlight have been reflecting on 2018 and the ways in which we’ve been able to support our community through giving. We couldn’t have done it without the help and commitment of you—our customers, fans, and friends! Big thanks and props to all of you!
In partnership with nonprofit organizations, city agencies, the book publishing community, and our customers, we’ve been able to give back this year in significant and meaningful ways. Some donations are financial, supporting schools, nonprofits, and causes, and others are gifts of our expertise and resources to get books into the hands of those who need them most.
“An independent bookstore is a unique kind of community space: welcoming, inspiring, and humanizing,” says Greenlight co-founder and events director Jessica Stockton Bagnulo. “Along with our colleagues in bookstores around the country, we at Greenlight are looking now for new ways to use our space and other resources to address the issues that affect our community. We have always been a place for conversations, stories and ideas; we hope to become a place where neighbors can make connections and find tools to help one another when we need it most.”
In 2018, Greenlight donated $23,704.07 and 4,306 books in total!
Read on for a (non-exhaustive) closer look at what Greenlight gave in the past year.
Secret Snowflake Book Drive:
Greenlight partners with NYC Service, a division of the Mayor's office, on an annual Secret Snowflake book drive to provide new books to kids in the shelter and foster care systems in New York City. We curate a list of great titles for kids and we discount book drive titles 30% to customers when purchased for donation. We also donate additional books and take on all delivery costs of the books to NYC Service.
This holiday season, we donated 1,007 books to NYC kids! Much gratitude to all of you for your generous book donations that made this drive such a success.
“We are constantly inspired by the generosity of Greenlight customers, as well as Rebecca and Jessica’s commitment to supporting youth in our city.” –Meg Cook, NYC Service
Gift an Author Visit Program:
Greenlight created the “Gift an Author Visit” program, inviting customers to purchase books in support of authors visiting local school PS 375: if the store could collect purchased books to donate to an entire grade, the author would visit the school and present their book to students.
This year, we collected Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin for the entire Kindergarten and 1st grade, and Sea Creatures from the Sky by Ricardo Cortés for the entire Pre-Kindergarten grade!
Ricardo Cortés visited PS 375 in December and Fran Manushkin will visit in the Spring.
“Our pupils are starstruck when meeting real life children's book authors and the students treasure receiving their very own signed books. Kids succeed when schools and businesses join together.” –Marie Spinney, teacher
Books Through Bars Wish List:
NYC Books Through Bars is a nonprofit collective that sends free books to incarcerated people across the country. Greenlight hosts an ongoing wish list on our website with books that are always in demand for BTB’s clients; customers purchase books for donation, which are collected at the bookstore and delivered to Books Through Bars. In 2018, with your support, we donated 3,076 books to BTB!
“It's a win for everyone involved: people are able to buy books for individuals in prison from an independent bookstore, we have our shelves stocked with the most frequently requested books, and the incarcerated people who write us get the titles they want.” –NYC Books Through Bars collective
#IndiesGiveBack Book Donation Project:
Through the “Indie Bookstores Give Back on Small Business Saturday” campaign (#IndiesGiveBack), the American Booksellers Association and American Express are working together with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to make available 20,000 special edition copies of Ghost by Jason Reynolds, the 2018 Indies First spokesperson.
We joined bookstores nationwide in purchasing books at cost for donation and were able to give the entire 6th grade class of Launch Expeditionary Learning School in Crown Heights their own copies of Ghost.
School Book Fair Fundraisers:
Greenlight works closely with teachers and administrators to curate book fairs so students can have access to books on campus, and we donate 20-25% of all book fair sales back to the school.
In 2018, we put on 29 book fairs and raised over $16,000 for 26 educational institutions!
In 2017, we launched the Civic Engagement Series, which hosts nonprofit groups working in social justice, community organizing, and the arts for hour-long, interactive events with the goal of providing tools for involvement, creativity, and action. 20% of sales on the day of each event are donated to the featured organization to support their important work.
In 2018, we hosted Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association (PLGNA) for a panel on educational equity; Atlas: DIY for testimonials and tutorials by youth clients on immigration justice and advocacy; and teachers and students from Generation Citizen for a demonstration of action civics education in high schools.
“It was a powerful opportunity for young immigrant leaders at Atlas:DIY to share their personal experiences, the ways they are taking a stand about the issues and policies that affect them, and to share resources and information about immigrant rights with Brooklyn community members.” –Jason Yoon, Atlas: DIY Executive Director
Other Charitable Donations:
Greenlight responds to requests from schools, literary nonprofits, and neighborhood organizations for donations to support their causes. We donate gift cards for raffles and drawings, ad space in programs, or other forms of support for the orgs that make Brooklyn the best it can be. In 2018, we donated over $4,000 in other charitable donations!
Thank you so much for helping us with these accomplishments to benefit our communities. It really would not be possible without you. Every time you shop with us a portion of your support goes toward projects like these. Together, let’s see what we can all do in 2019!