A statewide nonprofit organization will hand out free books to kids Saturday at all six Governor’s Restaurant and Bakery locations across Maine, including Lewiston and Waterville.

Books from Dirigo Reads will be available from 7-10 a.m. or while supplies last for children ages 4-7. Other Governor’s locations are in Bangor, Old Town, Ellsworth and Presque Isle.

The goal of Dirigo Reads is to foster a love of reading by providing a book to every first grader in Maine public schools every month during the school year.

Dan Cashman, the group’s co-founder, said 10% of breakfast proceeds at Governor’s Restaurants that morning will go to the organization.

Dirigo Reads started in 2019 in six schools and now is in more than 100 in all 16 counties.

“We talk about STEM education but without a foundation of solid reading skills, those other skills won’t happen,” Cashman said. “We really need to get to that foundational roots of reading and one of the greatest ways we can … improve literacy rates is to have kids fall in love with reading.”

Research from Dirigo Reads finds that 50% of children from low-income communities start first grade almost two years behind their peers.

In addition, 61% of low-income families often have no books in their homes, and children who struggle to read by the end of first grade have a 90% chance of struggling to read by fourth grade.

Cashman said the group wants to not only help kids become better readers but also spark their creative imaginations.

“There’s something special about having a book of your own and falling in love with the characters,” he said. “At a young age, there’s not many things that can do that like a good book can.”

He shared a story of a thank-you letter his organization received a few years ago that sticks with him. A teacher said she had a hard time explaining to a student that he would be able to keep the book provided by Dirigo Reads — it was theirs.

The child, Cashman said, got so excited and overwhelmed because he had never owned a book before.

“It’s special hearing stories like these,” Cashman said. “I remember when I was a kid I latched onto characters like Clifford the Big Red Dog and the Berenstain Bears and making notes and drawings and going back to them over and over again. As kids get older, distractions are there, but the foundation of being able to read and love reading is there, and that’s something you don’t lose.”