DI Rotary, Books in Every Bag partner to bring early literacy to Cainhoy children

For young readers in Cainhoy, storytime is about to get an upgrade – delivered straight to their mailbox. 

Thanks to a partnership between the Daniel Island Rotary Club and the nonprofit Books in Every Bag, toddlers and preschoolers in the Cainhoy Elementary and Huger community can now receive a free book every month until their fifth birthday, mailed directly to their homes and accompanied by a parental guide to make reading together even more enriching. 

“The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school,” said Cynthia Bise, interim principal at Cainhoy Elementary. “The first three years of a child’s life are critical to brain development, and when a child is exposed to reading at a very early age, the brain develops a lifelong capacity to learn language.” 

While Cainhoy Elementary provides books, Bise said it has limited capacity to get age-appropriate reading material into homes, especially for toddlers and preschoolers. 

“We offer books to parents here, but we do not have the capacity to mail books out to homes,” Bise said. “The books we provide are on an elementary level, whereas Books in Every Bag can offer books geared toward babies and toddlers.” 

By delivering books directly to homes, Bise said the program ensures children have early access to literacy tools that can set the stage for lifelong learning. 

Books in Every Bag, a South Carolina-based nonprofit, is dedicated to giving kids in Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, and Colleton counties a strong start. Their mission: make sure every child has access to books from birth to five, helping them develop language skills, spark imagination, and enter school ready to succeed. 

The idea came from Daniel Island Rotarian Chip Law, who brought the program to the club’s philanthropy committee. 

“Chip Law deserves all the credit for finding this organization, and the board unanimously approved full funding,” said Evan Murray, the Rotary’s fundraising director. The club’s $2,688 donation will cover books for all eligible children in the community. 

“Literacy is one of our key initiatives,” Murray said. “We hope every child in this program will be inspired by these age-appropriate books to fall in love with reading, learning, and discovering the world around them.” 

As families begin to sign up, Bise said the program could have ripple effects for the Cainhoy community. “We hope that this will give our students a purpose to read to their younger siblings, and it also gives them new books in their hands, which is always exciting. Long-term academic success will hopefully be seen as their younger siblings come to school more prepared while our current students gain confidence and practice their reading.”