Wipro, First Book Bring Backpacks, New Books to Jefferson City Area Kids in Need
Volunteer-led partnership promotes power of reading and community
engagement
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AnuragBehar–Five hundred Jefferson City area elementary students will have new
backpacks with three new books each as a result of a partnership between
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) (BSE: 507685) (NSE: WIPRO), a leading global
information technology, consulting and business process services company
and First Book. First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that has
delivered more than 170 million books and educational resources to
programs and schools with children in need.
On November 8, Wipro volunteers came together for a backpack build to
fill 500 backpacks with 1,500 books at the Wipro office in Jefferson
City. On November 9 and 10, the backpacks will be delivered to the new
Boys and Girls Club on Lafayette Street, and East Elementary School on
McCarty Street for a reading celebration. These books will be used to
facilitate reading circles with Wipro volunteers and help students build
their home libraries.
This occasion marks the fifth Wipro volunteer engagement with East
Elementary School. In 2015, Wipro partnered with First Book in Jefferson
City to donate 5,000 books to East Elementary School.
Wipro’s presence in Jefferson City includes its hundreds of employees at
the Infocrossing facility in Jefferson City. Every year, the company
hosts a “Spirit of Wipro” Run for employees, customers, partners, and
their families. This year, the event included a 10K, 5K, and 1K fun run
for kids, music, games, and a fundraiser through First Book to allocate
additional resources to the Jefferson City community.
“Wipro is committed to playing a role in enhancing access to books for
children in the communities in which we operate,” said Anurag Behar,
Chief Sustainability Officer, Wipro Limited. “Our Jefferson
City-based employees have shown great leadership in supporting students’
educational journey and well-being.”
Since 2015, Wipro and First Book have worked together to distribute over
138,000 books throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a goal of
distributing at least 200,000 books to children in need, as part of
their three-year partnership.
Book ownership and a print-rich environment are leading indicators of a
child’s educational success, but for the 32 million children growing up
in low-income families in the U.S. alone, books are scarce. A recent
study found that in one low-income neighborhood, there was only one book
for more than 800 children, whereas in moderate income neighborhoods,
there are 13 books for every one child.1
First Book, which has operations in both the U.S. and Canada, works with
formal and informal educators serving children in need aged between 0-18
years in a wide range of settings – from schools, classrooms, summer
school and parks and recreational programs, to health clinics, homeless
shelters, faith-based programs, libraries, museums, summer food sites
and more. The organization supports more than one in four of the 1.3
million classrooms and programs that are serving children in need in the
U.S. alone.
“Access to books deeply affects a child’s ability to learn, and we are
grateful that Wipro and its employees in Jefferson City and across the
nation continue to support their local communities by spreading First
Book’s mission of bringing the transformative power of books to children
in need,” said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book.
“With the support and dedication of Wipro employees, tens of thousands
of children can enjoy the power of reading and unlock their future.”
Reference
About First Book
First Book transforms the lives of children in need. Through a
sustainable, market-driven model, First Book is creating equal access to
quality education — making everything from brand-new, high-quality books
and educational resources to sports equipment and snacks affordable to
its member network of more than 325,000 educators who exclusively serve
kids in need. Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 170
million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving
children from low-income families in more than 30 countries. First Book
currently reaches an average of 3 million children every year and
supports more than one in four of the estimated 1.3 million educators
serving children in need. With an additional 1,000 educators joining
each week, First Book is the largest and fastest-growing network of
educators in the United States exclusively serving kids in need.
Eligible educators, librarians, providers, and others serving children
in need can sign up at firstbook.org/register.
For more information, please visit firstbook.org
or follow the latest news on Facebook
and Twitter.
About Wipro Limited
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) (BSE: 507685) (NSE: WIPRO) is a leading global
information technology, consulting and business process services
company. We harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation,
robotics, cloud, analytics and emerging technologies to help our clients
adapt to the digital world and make them successful. A company
recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong
commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, we have
over 160,000 dedicated employees serving clients across six continents.
Together, we discover ideas and connect the dots to build a better and a
bold new future.
Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth
prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of
risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and
uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited
to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings,
revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense
competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage,
wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly
skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time
frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our
ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for
technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication
networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential
acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the
success of the companies in which we make strategic investments,
withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability,
war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies
outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and
general economic conditions affecting our business and industry.
Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more
fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov.
We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral
forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the
company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our
reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on
our behalf.
Contacts
First Book
Melanie Boyer
(o) 202-639-0144
mboyer@firstbook.org
or
Wipro
Limited
Prathibha Das
prathibha.das@wipro.com
or
Hill+Knowlton
Strategies
Brent Curry
(o) 312-255-3086
brent.curry@hkstrategies.com
