ABC15, CW61, and the Scripps Howard Foundation teamed up in September to raise money to give books to children in need through the "If You Give A Child A Book..." Campaign.
With the help of ABC15 viewers, the campaign raised nearly $12,000. That was enough for nearly 4,200 books for the Arizona's Children Association.
The non-profit supports families navigating foster care, adoption, and reunification.
CEO of Arizona's Children Association Jacob Schmitt says the books are often given to children who come through their center.
"To help calm and soothe the child that's come into care," Schmitt said. “We’d really like to thank ABC15, the Scripps Howard Foundation, and their partnership with Scholastic. It’s been fantastic."
For nearly a decade, Mary Duncan says she and her husband Darrell were unable to have children on their own so they started fostering and eventually were able to adopt three children.
"Everyone has this idea of how they're going to become parents and I never would've thought this would be our journey, but I really couldn't imagine it being done differently," Duncan said. "They were supposed to be with me, so it felt incredibly right."
Duncan says she knows firsthand with her son, just how much of a difference a book can make.
“He wouldn’t even leave my side to go across the room to retrieve a toy because he was so worried I wasn’t going to be there when he came back to me," Duncan said. "So, it was when I started to read to him that I started to see a lot of things change.”
