The South Jersey Interfaith Coalition for Literacy (SJICL) BookMates Program is a social justice project of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey and the Catholic Jewish Commission of Southern New Jersey. We are also an affiliate of the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy and an America Reads site. Our goal is to reach out to at risk children in the community, and provide them with a love and appreciation for reading, as well as to promote literacy and help children to become independent readers at an early age. Our volunteers commit to work one on one with early elementary school students. Each volunteer shares a love of books, a love of children, a love of reading, and a desire to make a difference in a child's life.

In addition to forging a special bond and fostering a love of books with the children, BookMates has the potential to reach many people in our community. Organizations are encouraged to join our efforts as literacy partners. Individual children as well as many organizations are collecting books to be donated to disadvantaged children as their community service projects. Through diverse community initiatives, we expect to donate well over 10,000 books to these children.

Our staff consists of a full time Program Coordinator, an AmeriCorps Fellow serving as the Coordinator of Volunteers, and a part time Administrative Asistant. The Executive Director of the JCRC provides overall supervision and also acts as liaison between the BookMates staff and the Jewish Federation. Our steering committee is comprised of college professors, literacy specialists, current and retired teachers, and community leaders. Their advice, along with the feedback of Camden City and other school administrators, teachers and families of the students, enable us to structure a program that is responsive to the community's needs.

Currently, we have over 200 volunteers mentoring more than 400 children in 18 schools in Burlington, Camden & Gloucester Counties. For many of these children, this is the only one on one experience they have. Both our volunteers and the children they work with have expressed how much the program means to them. The parents, teachers, and school staff are also extremely appreciative of this program. We are hoping to continue to expand the BookMates program into other school districts during the next year.

Volunteers can help in several ways. If you have time during the school day you can volunteer in a school, reading to and with a child, one on one. We are currently developing after school programs for those who do not have time to devote during the school day. We provide training and follow up sessions to prepare our volunteers. Volunteers can also organize book drives, work on community outreach, public relations, and special events.