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For the past five years, KPMG has been working in its local communities with a commitment on literacy, said Ken Seel, managing partner at the KPMG Stamford office.
“It’s been a big part of our DNA and what we’re doing across the country,” Seel said. “This year we decided to do a relay across the country, started in D.C., and it will end up on the West Coast.”
Each office was asked to pick a school or a charity where books aren’t common, he said. The Stamford office chose to work with the Hart Magnet Elementary School and the Ferguson Library.
The employees made gift bags for each student in the five second-grade classes at Hart, each with "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," "Green Eggs and Ham," "Amelia Bedelia," "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Charlotte’s Web," a 24-pack of crayons and a coloring book.
“A lot of these kids don’t have books. They might see some books at school, but they don’t have any of their own,” Seel said. “Hopefully it inspires for them to pick up that book alt home and instills a love of reading.”
The company chose literacy as its focus because it goes to creating an educated and informed workforce, Seel said.
“I think it goes to educating society. If you can read it opens up a whole new world for a lot of people,” he said. “It’s something that we need to focus on right here in our own country.”
Family members and friends also help in reading and creating the gift bags for the students. Several years ago, employees and their families worked together with Build-A-Bear and made more than 300 bears to give out along with the books.
The annual event is not only for the children receiving, but also for the employees who have the opportunity to give back to the community where they work.
“I’ve read to several groups over the years and it never gets old and when you see the smiles on their faces and how they just light up,” Seel said. “That’s something I’ll do time and time again, it just never gets old.”
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