Wal-Mart recently donated $1,000 to a local reading program aimed to benefit the county’s youngest residents.

The WEE Books Program is a non profit organization that provides free age appropriate books to children in Dawson County from birth to age 5.

Marge Carey, the organization’s president, says the program has been in existence for about three years and has had a great reception from the community.

“We are very appreciative of this donation and also of Wal-Mart,” Carey said. “This money will be used to purchase books for the many children that we serve in this community.”

Carey noted that the program served 453 pre-school students during the month of July, and on average, serves 450-475 children each month.

Wal-Mart’s Community Involvement Coordinator Cecil Bennett was equally as proud of the donation to a program that supports literacy among the county’s younger generation.

“This program has helped children with reading and book handling skills once they reach school age, and for that we are very thankful,” Bennett said. “We appreciate everything that they do and are grateful for the support they provide to our county’s children.”

Donna Weaver, reading recovery teacher at Black’s Mill Elementary School, agreed with Bennett and said that book handling skills are important once a child reaches the age to attend school.

“The most important thing about reading is book handling skills,” Weaver said. “We have seen students before who don’t know which way to open a book, how to hold it or even know to read from left to right. This program facilitates learning those skills, especially for those from the ages of 4-5.”

For more information about WEE Books, call Marge Carey at (706) 216-4872.