Forces Join To Grant the Wishes of More Than 500 Classrooms Nationwide


Program Invites Young Americans to Share Their Vision for the Future

My Wish For U.S., the digital platform that invites Americans to share their wishes for the country’s future, today announced a partnership with First Book, a non-profit social enterprise that provides new, high-quality educational resources to children in need, and AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate. The partnership will provide classrooms nationwide with books to add to their libraries, chosen by educators to support the wishes they submit with their students on MyWishForUS.com. Educators will be able to select books from categories like Activism and Civic Engagement, Making a Difference, Biographies, and more. The program will launch this fall and will distribute approximately 15,000 books to classroom libraries serving children living in poverty.

My Wish For U.S. and First Book will encourage educators across the country to post their classroom’s wish to the My Wish For U.S. platform and social media. At least 500 educators will be chosen to receive gift credits to the First Book Marketplace (www.fbmarketplace.org), where they can select books that support their students’ areas of interest.

“Often, we tell students what they need to know and learn about, and that relationship only goes one way,” said Caroline Kilbanoff, Program Manager for Made By Us. “We are excited to collaborate with First Book to let students tell us what they are interested in learning more about and giving them the tools and information to take action.”

“This is an important time in our country for young people to speak up and share their dreams for what this country can become,” said Kyle Zimmer, President, CEO and Co-founder of First Book. “We are so excited to work with AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate and My Wish for US to bring this opportunity to classrooms across the country, and to provide kids in need with the resources to help make those dreams come true.”

AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate, a Mars Wrigley brand, has a history of commitment toward education. Their funding of this initiative is a major step in fulfilling the Mars family’s long-standing legacy and on-going effort to support First Book’s work in communities across the country.

“As a company, Mars is committed to the mission of education and that includes helping students discover their history, heritage, culture and stories,” said Kelly Lynch, Senior Brand Manager. “With Education as one of our key brand pillars, we are thrilled to help provide books to students around the country in an effort to make learning relatable and fun!”

My Wish for U.S. is one of the first projects launched by Made By Us, an effort founded by 65 civic and history organizations across the United States to present history in relevant, provocative and innovative ways. Committed to placing their audience first, My Wish for U.S.’ collaboration with First Book is an effort to bring student voices to the decision-making table to help foster the next generation of civic leaders.

On June 15, Made By Us launched the My Wish For U.S. digital platform, inviting young Americans to share their wishes for the future. The interactive platform allows users to share their wishes for the future and the many ways their ideas overlap and diverge with others. Contributors can also send their wishes directly to their local government representatives. To date, the platform has received 500 wishes from almost every demographic and geographic region in the country.

About Made By Us 

Our national motto, e pluribus unum—out of many, one— is also the ethos of this group. We are hundreds of civic and history organizations collaborating across the country. Loudly and clearly, we recognize the opportunity presented in this transformative moment for institutions like ours to better serve the public and join the ongoing conversation about the future of our country. We have come together in an unprecedented way, pooling resources and bringing the best we each have to offer, so that we might harness the spirit of collaboration and tap into our varied strengths—across regions, disciplines, and methods. We are modeling a new path forward for the ways in which history serves the people. Now is the time for us all to step up. For more information, visit https://historymadebyus.com/.

About First Book

Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1992 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit social enterprise, First Book is a leader in the educational equity field. Over its nearly 30 year history, First Book has distributed more than 200 million books and educational resources, with a value of more than $2 billion. First Book believes education offers children in need the best path out of poverty. First Book breaks down barriers to quality education by providing its network of more than 475,000 registered teachers, librarians, after school program leaders, and others serving children in need with millions of free and affordable new, high-quality books, educational resources, and basic needs items through the award-winning First Book Marketplace nonprofit eCommerce site. The First Book Network comprises the largest and fastest-growing community of formal and informal educators serving children in need.

First Book also expands the breadth and depth of the education field through a family of social enterprises, including First Book Research & Insights, its proprietary research initiative, and the First Book Accelerator, which brings best-in-class research to the classroom via relevant, usable educator resources. First Book Impact Funds target support to areas of particular need, such as rural communities or increasing diversity in children’s books.

For more information, please visit firstbook.org or follow the latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

eSchool News Staff

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