Founded by Julia Burney-Witherspoon, a police officer from Racine, Wisconsin, Cops 'n' Kids is an international initiative that has as its goals
- Ensuring that every child has access—in his or her home—to books and the knowledge, inspiration, and hope that such access can provide; and
- Encouraging positive relationships between children and police.
The Cops 'n' Kids Children's Literacy Task Force of the Lehigh Valley met for the first time in June 2003. This program was formally adopted as the Cops 'n' Kids Children's Literacy Program. In addition to the police, the Lehigh Valley initiative was expanded to include the involvement of businesses and organizations, municipal leaders, the educational community, and other caring individuals who joined this meaningful literacy project to "make a difference" in the lives of our children. Through the cooperative effort of virtually all segments of our Lehigh Valley community, the program has been responsible for distributing more than one million free books thus far-1,262,610 to be exact! Beverly Donchez Bradley has served as Chairperson and President of the Lehigh Valley Cops 'n' Kids Children's Literacy Program since it began in 2003.
