CELEBRITY
Meghan Markle Donates 2,000 Copies of ‘The Bench’
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Just a day after its release, Meghan Markle is donating 2,000 copies of her children’s book The Bench to schools, libraries, community centers, and non-profit programs across the country.
“After more than a year of unprecedented challenges for school kids and families everywhere, The Duchess believes the path ahead must include a focus on well-being – and nourishing our communities through food, education, and emotional and mental health support,” a statement on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation website read.
“At Archewell, that is often centered on food and essential needs (as evidenced by our partnership with organizations like World Central Kitchen) but also nourishment through learning and connection (as seen in The Duchess’s support of last year’s Save With Stories initiative to raise funds for educational resources like books, toys, and worksheets).” the statement continued.
“As an example of this belief system, The Duchess and Archewell have received the support of the publisher of The Bench to distribute 2,000 copies at no cost to libraries, community centers, schools, and nonprofit programs across the country.”
The Bench is a children’s story that focuses on the bond between a father and son as seen through a mother’s eyes. It was inspired by a poem Markle wrote for Prince Harry following the birth of their son Archie in 2019.
The Duke and Duchess teamed up with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that has distributed more than 200 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving kids in low-income communities in the United States and Canada.
