For Terry Murphy and the MACPA, promoting financial literacy begins with encouraging literacy at a young age, and there is no better place to start than at an elementary school. On January 18, 2007, Murphy and members of the MACPA staff kicked off a daylong book distribution event at Samuel Gompers Elementary School in northwest Detroit.  

This year, 13,000 books were collected for donation. Ten thousand new and gently used children’s books were distributed at a total of 11 schools in Metro Detroit, as well as the United Way.   

Terry Murphy at Gomper's Elementary distributing books to the children

“I became involved volunteering in schools because I retired early and had time and I wanted to work with kids,” said Murphy in an interview with the Michigan Chronicle. “The distribution part of it came about because I kept telling my friends (particularly) at the MACPA, that the kids need more books. The other part of it is to give the kids books to take home; a lot of these kids don’t have a lot of books at home. There’s no reason these kids shouldn’t have the same opportunities.”

Additionally, with massive cuts in spending for many school districts, extra books are often an unaffordable luxury. Through the generosity of individuals and groups, schools are able to supplement their resources with the books collected by the MACPA.

Gale Lewis, principal of Gompers, expressed the far-reaching impact of books on children and their families to the Michigan Chronicle. “We’re really working hard to build in our students a love of reading and understanding that through reading, they can virtually go anywhere,” said Lewis. “Because the parents get involved, it promotes literacy in the community.”

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