Hello and welcome back to the blog! It wasn’t that long ago that Inchy, our book vending machine, started its journey through the US. As the Inchy story has developed and expanded across the US, we’ve found incredible stories of success that demonstrate the power of community, and it’s truly magical to see how people all over the country have come together for the kids. Today, we wanted to highlight the stories behind how some members of our Inchy-family came together to fundraise and bring a machine to their community.

A community comes together

Over in Beatrice, Nebraska, Lincoln Elementary School got their Inchy through the generous donations of families in the community. Doris Martin, Executive Director of the Beatrice Educational Foundation highlighted contributions from Garnett Investment Strategies, The Garnett Family, The Byers Family, the Fortnightly Club, the Marilyn Guenther Memorial Fund, and many many more as being the basis of this effort. The books needed to keep the machine stocked will be provided by the Lincoln-Stoddard PTO.

Keeping memories alive

Down in Waco, Texas, La Vega Primary Phil Bancale Campus installed a book vending machine with over 100 pieces in both English and Spanish. Principal Lisa Seawright stated "At this age, our students are just learning to read. And we need to teach them the love of reading." This Inchy was paid for by the La Vega Pirates Education Foundation. This was done in memory of Ms.Lillian Bancale, who, along with her husband Phil, were volunteer readers at the school. The foundation also donated 144 books, with additional funding coming from the children of the Bancales and other community donors.

A Gold Star for a golden effort

Not too far over in Arlington Texas, 17-year-old Girl Scout and avid reader Courtney Brecheen is looking to earn her Gold Award by helping out Wood Elementary School. To earn the award, Brecheen needed to manage an 80-hour project, and she chose to work on getting Inchy installed in her local elementary school. Courtney’s mother Kristin sold T-shirts for three years in order to raise money for the purchase, while Courtney worked to gather appropriate book donations. In just four months she collected over 1200 books. She will be one of only 3% of girl scouts to earn this prestigious award.

Driving home a love of books

Moving northward to the city of Cheboygan, Michigan, where Cheboygan Intermediate School received donations from Bishop Automotive to fund their Inchy purchase. Principal Mike Duval said the idea “was suggested to us through our state and federal grants consultant as an idea as a parent and family engagement activity, as part of our Title One program.” Title One being a federal program providing additional resources to at-risk students. Bishop Automotive of Cheboygan donated a whopping $3,889 towards the purchase of the machine and books. Coupled with funding via a read-a-thon sponsored by the Bishop Automotive, federal grants, and public donations, students from both Cheboygan Intermediate and middle school are able to access a book vending machine as many times as they have tokens.

Teachers helping Teachers

Three hours South in Lapeer, Michigan, Mary Kay Mason, a third-grade teacher at Schickler Elementary School has set up a fund-raising campaign on the website donorschoose.org. DonorsChoose is a teacher-funded, non-profit, fundraising website which has helped many schools across the country install Inchy in their school. “The incentive of developing personal and social responsibilities will encourage students to take pride in ownership of books,” Mason said. “An Inchy’s Bookworm vending machine will provide those opportunities.” Mason believes that by allowing kids to keep the books they’ve earned they will develop a lifelong love of reading and a sense of pride when doing it.

Order Yours Today!

For almost 3 years now, Inchy has been introducing a generation of kids to the joy of reading. By allowing kids to earn and keep books through their own effort, they feel rewarded for their good performance and behavior. Moreover however, they develop a long-term love for reading. To get Inchy in your school or to learn more, feel free to contact us here, and be sure to keep up with our social media feed for more Inchy updates!