About Books of Hope..........1
Register & Get Involved!....2
Our Library.........................3
Questions? Contact Us ......4
The Memory Project...........5
How can I help? ................6
Stonebreaker Bracelets......7
Int'l School Enrollment ....8

The participation fee is $150 per school/group.

After you register, you will receive an invoice via email. We ask for payment within one month. Pre-payment is not required. Once we process your payment, you will receive a receipt via email.

This fee includes:

Unlimited international shipping for one school
Distribution of books to your sponsored school
Facilitator's Guide
Introductory DVD
DVD of the book delivery trip
Photograph of one of your books at your sponsored school
Certificate of participation
Online resources to support service learning

We hope to send as many books to as many children as possible while involving as many American students as possible. Thus, we have determined that the best fee structure is one in which we do not discourage the production of books (such as charging per book or per pound) or create a disincentive to involve as many students as possible (by charging per student or per classroom). Instead, we feel that the project can have the greatest impact and be most cost-efficient by establishing a schoolwide participation fee that acts as an incentive to get more students involved in producing more books.

The fee is the same whether you involve 3 classrooms or 12, so it's in a school's best interest to get as many students involved as possible.

We also will be taking advantage of our unique and collective ability to send books in bulk. We will be sending the books via shipping container, which is affordable for us because of the nationwide scale of our project. This means that we will have virtually unlimited space to fill and can ship more than just hand-made books. Donated books, clothing, toys or other items that your sponsored school has requested will also be welcome aboard our Books of Hope containers.

In order to cover the costs of the shipping containers and distribution within two countries, we averaged our expenses out over the estimated number of participating schools, and we came to $150 per school.

If, as a school or organization, you submit 30 pounds of books or more, you will save more money than if you had arranged for shipping and delivery yourself (including customs taxes, which our partner organizations in Uganda and India incur for every delivery they accept).

We would love to be able to involve all schools and organizations that are interested in the program, and we hope we can work with you to make that happen.

If your school or organization cannot afford the participation fee, please consider seeking out sponsor organizations or individuals to help defray the expenses. We find that Rotary and Kiwanis clubs are often very willing to assist. Another option is to ask for a small contribution from each family to cover the cost of shipping their child's book. Other schools have held book festivals to show off their students' books and raise money. Sponsors who contribute a $1 can sign the inside cover of the book. We'll have other fundraising ideas available on the website for registered schools.

We encourage smaller groups to collaborate with larger institutions. We see this as a win-win-win situation - collaboration provides even more books for vulnerable children while spreading awareness among more of our own community members and allowing us to cover our shipping expenses.

We do have an alternative fee structure for groups smaller than 35 students. Due to the limitations of our budget, we can only use this fee structure sparingly, but we're happy to discuss it. Please contact Books of Hope Director Abha Thakkar at 608-441-3206 to discuss options.

Due to the cost of international shipping and delivery, we cannot accept books without a participation fee.

Thank you for your interest in the program, and we look forward to working with you!