Books for Keeps needs help, and in a big way.
We are facing a crisis of the sort we haven’t experienced in nearly three years (way back when the roof collapsed in our original storage facility).
This spring, we will be losing our warehouse space, and must find a new home for our books and operations.
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Fire & Flavor has graciously given us two-and-a-half years of free warehouse space and labor, and we cannot adequately express our gratitude to the owners and employees there for allowing us to grow in a safe, supportive environment. But, as with most businesses, they grow and circumstances change. Due to this, BFK will no longer have access to free space for our books.
Our first priority is to ensure we can serve the 3,700 children we’re committed to serve in 2014, uninterrupted. We have a deadline of March 30 to get our books moved into a new space.
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What this means is finding a new space as soon as possible – preferably free. A successful end-of-year fundraising campaign brought enough money into BFK to buy the books needed to serve the students in our program this year. However, we were not anticipating the need to pay for warehouse space in 2014, and therefore do not have funds on hand – or budgeted for – that expense.
Do you know someone? Or perhaps know someone who knows someone?
Please email Leslie, at leslie.hale@booksforkeeps.org, if you have any thoughts, suggestions, or leads.
We have to solve this. Losing our warehouse space before May distributions would cripple our ability to serve the children in our program – children who already have too many factors working against them in their lives. We’re determined not to let that happen, but we need the community’s help.
Here are the characteristics we looking for in a new warehouse space:
- Roughly 4,000 square feet.
- Solid roof, with no water leakage.
- Critter-free.
- Running water with a bathroom.
- Transfer truck-level loading dock with access to a forklift and driver.
- Someone on hand Monday through Friday to receive book shipments.
That’s a lot to ask, we know. But, you never know what’s available if you don’t ask.
Thank you for lending your brain-power to help us solve this problem. We are strong because of our many community supporters, and we’re confident we can do this with your help.
