Our Story

how it all started…

This idea began in November 2018 during a Family Night at our local food bank. On this night, volunteers spent two hours sorting food into backpacks to be delivered on Fridays to dozens of Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). These backpacks then find their way to students needing nutritional meals at home each weekend.

If we can support children’s physical growth and development by sending nutritional food home to eat, then we should also be able to support their growing minds by sending quality books home to read.

Fast forward to where we are now. We have learned that with every $1000, we can purchase about 250 quality titles from picture books to chapter books. We have seen the excitement students show as they choose books: with characters who look like them, with topics they are interested in reading, and with the understanding that these books are theirs to keep.

Thanks to many committed donors, NBC has raised over $20,000 to support its work since launching in Fall of 2019. Partnerships include Carter Lawrence Elementary Magnet, Warner Arts Magnet Elementary, and Fall-Hamilton Elementary School. Since the Fall of 2019, students have chosen nearly 4,800 NBC books to take home and keep.