In observance of International Literacy Day, Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe will join the Alex Foundation and the Arkansas Reading Association to help distribute over 1,000 books.
100 books will be donated both to Our House and Dorcas House for transitional children residents; 100 books will be donated to St. Francis House to establish a library for transitional families; and 400 books will be donated to both Dermott Elementary School library and to CB King Memorial School for special needs children.
Approximately 1,100 recycled and new reading books are made available through purchases made by the Alex Foundation, and 123 new books are made available by its partner, First Book.
Long before she was First Lady of Arkansas, Ginger Beebe volunteered by reading to children to promote literacy, raising awareness about mental-health issues, advocating for people with special needs, and supporting the arts. Her work with the homeless, both individually and through organizations such as Our House in Little Rock, demonstrates her caring spirit. She also works to create better working and living environments for those with special needs, most recently creating an audio tour of the herb garden at the Governor’s Mansion for use by blind and visually impaired visitors. She is a member of the Advisory Board for Women and Children First, and in 2011, she was honored as the organization’s Woman of the Year.
The Alex Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, offers academic scholarship assistance and educational resources for students attending two Arkansas Delta schools, Dermott and McGehee High Schools, as well as Parkview High School in Little Rock. The mission of the Alex Foundation is to engage, engender and enlighten students to pursue careers and entrepreneurial opportunities in architecture, art and mathematics through mentoring, strengthening their capacity, and supporting their educational attainment and continued advancement to meet domestic and global challenges. The Foundation’s efforts are collaborated through a multiple intelligence approach that includes cooperative learning, experiential learning, project-based learning and multidisciplinary learning.