The Molina Foundation recently awarded the gift of 1,800 new books — enough to fill a library shelf nearly a hundred feet long — to Greywolf Elementary School, a federal Title I campus that serves low-income, high-need families in the Sequim area.

The children’s storybooks and activity workbooks featuring fun Disney themes and characters — including “Frozen,” “Star Wars” and “Snow White” — were delivered to Greywolf in February.

Covering a range of grades and age levels, the books will be given by teachers to students in June on the last day of school to provide materials for pleasure reading and family learning time during the summer break.

The donation, which was sponsored by Molina Healthcare of Washington, is part of the “Launch into Learning” campaign that took place this past holiday season around the country — a literacy initiative by the foundation to support schools, service groups, food banks and other community agencies with free educational resources that will help children, parents and caregivers.

“The education of our children is the single most important preventative step we can take to ensure their success later in life,” Dr. Martha Bernadett, foundation president and founder, said. “Simply having books in the home increases a child’s chances of success enormously. The Molina Foundation is honored to partner with Greywolf Elementary School to help their students succeed.”

Altogether, the books Greywolf received have an estimated value of $13,400.

“It was through the power of community engagement that we were able to learn of and be awarded this incredible donation,” Greywolf fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Lopez said; Lopez is the school’s Family Engagement Program Coordinator.

Greywolf parent Michelle Rhodes connected with Molina Healthcare of Washington’s Anastasia Garcia, at an Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition meeting, and Lopez applied for the grant. Garcia was able to generate a funding source covering the cost of shipping, so the donation had no cost to the Sequim School District.

Molina Healthcare, Inc., a longtime corporate supporter of The Molina Foundation, is a FORTUNE 500 company that provides managed health care services through Medicaid, Medicare and the State Benefit Exchange in Washington.

For more information, contact Hanna Smith, Public Information Officer for the Sequim School District, at hsmith@sequim.wa.k12.us or visit SequimSchools.org.