For the Rapids City Times

NEKOOSA – Domtar Corporation employee volunteers, from the company’s pulp and paper mill in Nekoosa, visited Humke Elementary School and the Chahk Ha Chee Head Start Childcare Center on Dec. 5 to read to children and commemorate the company’s donation of over 150 books and school-readiness materials.

Children also had the opportunity to meet with Santa and take a new book home.

Domtar’s donation provided a kindergarten readiness kit to help Head Start students transition to elementary school, as well as 50 books for language workshops at Humke Elementary School.

“Domtar treasures the wonderful relationship that we’ve developed with the students and faculty of Nekoosa throughout the years, and we are especially honored to be able to make a difference in children’s lives,” said Domtar Corporate Responsibility Manager, Heather Alverson Stowe. “Literacy is one of Domtar’s core corporate giving pillars, which is why it’s so important for us to foster a love of reading and to help put books in the hands of children in our local communities.”

Domtar’s book donation was made possible through the company’s partnership with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books to children in need. As part of its Powerful Pages campaign, Domtar has partnered with First Book since 2012 to provide more than half a million dollars in grants to schools and programs in towns that are home to Domtar facilities. Domtar’s grants provide funding to educators to purchase books through the First Book Marketplace, a website available exclusively to First Book programs.