ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ has received Charity Navigator's 4-star rating for the fifth consecutive year. Charity Navigator is the country's premiere charity evaluator and rates charities on sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency.

Last week, ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ held our annual Books Change Lives fundraising luncheon in St. Paul, Minnesota. This year's keynote speaker was His Excellency Ambassador Robinson Njeru Githae, Kenyan Ambassador to the United States.

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ held its annual Summit Society Reception at the Ugandan Embassy in Washington, D.C., hosted by Her Excellency Oliver Wonekha, Ugandan Ambassador to the U.S. and this year's Summit Society Chair.  The event also welcomed His Excellency Garang Diing Akuong, South Sudanese Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Lt. General Joseph Henry Smith, Ghanaian Ambassador to the U.S., and His Excellency Ernest Ndabashinze, Burundi Ambassador to the U.S.  Thomson Reuters, represented by Sharon Sayles-Belton, vice president, Government Affairs and Community Relations, was the platinum sponsor for this event.

In 1988, BFA founder Tom Warth visited the town library in Jinja, Uganda. He was dismayed to see that the shelves were quite bare & in dire need of good, quality books.  Last month, Tom returned to the Jinja Library with Executive Director Pat Plonski to celebrate the creation of BFA there 28 years ago! 

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ is growing! To better accommodate that growth, and to better serve the organizations and individuals with whom we partner, our Atlanta Warehouse recently moved into a new, much larger space. 

BFA founder Tom Warth decided to celebrate his 80th birthday by walking across Zanzibar Island in East ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½, all in the name of ending the ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½n book famine!  Tom has also walked across The Gambia and scaled Mount Kilimanjaro to promote literacy and education in ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½.  Having just completed the two day trek in "pretty fearsome heat and humidity," Tom reports that he is "feeling the pain," from the walk, but otherwise well and is enthusiastic about the impact the walk will have on communities and schools in the area.