Books For Africa Celebrates DOD Partnership at Warehouse Open House Parties in Georgia and Minnesota

Books For Africa hosted warehouse parties in our Minnesota and Georgia warehouses last week! These celebrations, held annually, are a way to thank our donors, volunteers, and supporters that make our work possible. We were delighted to host Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum as a special guest and speaker at our Minnesota event!

This year, we are also celebrating an expanded partnership. BFA is proud to be named a Preferred Partner in the U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Assistance Program. As part of this program, we will ship over 30 containers this year, delivering a total of more than 600,000 books to Africa! The warehouse parties celebrated the recent shipment of five DOD-funded containers of books to Kenya, and the planned shipment of another five containers of books to Malawi.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Defense Finance Subcommittee, has been a long-time champion of Books For Africa and was key to establishing this partnership.  Congresswoman McCollum thanked BFA’s supporters, saying:

One publisher just donated a lot of medical books that are going to go (to Malawi)—brand new!—and it’s because of you that those books are going over there, because the publisher knew that they would get delivered!

The Minnesota party also featured South African wine courtesy of Amphora Wines, food from Afro Deli, and African Boerwors grilled on-site. Our thanks to Lou the Photo Guy and Craig Bares Photography for helping us capture the festivities!

Supporters in Georgia joined us to celebrate over 150,000 being shipped to Kenya as part of the expanded Department of Defense Humanitarian Program partnership. The program featured remarks from BFA Board President Mike Essien and Board Member Matilda Arhin, as well as music from BFA’s very own warehouse band!