Who WE ARE

The BasKIDS project was founded by Lesley Edwards and Jasmine Butler, two Bowie State University graduates with a passion for children. What started off as a one-off community service event, turned into the women seeing a true need in the community. The very first BasKIDS event was held in April of 2015 where they collected donations of books and candy and stuffed baskets with Easter themed materials. The goal was to go to homeless shelters and hospitals and provide Easter Baskets for the children who wanted to celebrate the holiday, but was unable to. 

Shortly after delivering the baskets to shelters in D.C. and Maryland, Jasmine and Lesley knew that this is something that had not been done in the community before and should be done with an even greater purpose.

Literacy is so important to the young mind and has to be encouraged outside the structured learning environment.With your help, we are able to create the partnerships with homeless shelters, hospitals and reading programs and donate to the children in need. 

Meet the boss babes behind the 'Baskids' movement. Music by: Zel "PWL" For more episodes of Tula Talks subscribe today and visit https://www.tulatalks.com be...

"Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift."

                                                                                                                       -Kate DiCamillo

Our Mission

The mission of The BasKIDS Project is to grow a generation of readers by providing reading materials, promoting literacy and encouraging positive social engagement in our community. 

We hope to curve the achievement gap for low-income youth through providing reading materials for the home. We collect donations from our community and create baskets especially crafted for children, and donate them to shelters, hospitals and underfunded educational programs in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. We give the themed baskets filled with books and educational materials to encourage reading activity outside of school. 

We believe that leadership starts with knowledge, and the best way to gain knowledge is to READ. We invest in our community so that we can grow a generation of readers.