SAINT PAUL, Minn., Sept. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- David Robinson, the son of baseball icon Jackie Robinson, will travel from his home on a coffee cooperative in Tanzania, to visit Minneapolis and St. Paul September 22-24, where he will talk about his volunteer work for St. Paul-based Books For Africa (BFA).
Robinson, who has lived in Tanzania for more than 30 years, participated earlier this year in a walk across Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, led by BFA Founder Tom Warth to raise money, deliver books and help end the book famine in Africa.
After the walk, Robinson, the baseball legend's youngest child, distributed 5,000 books to eight primary schools and two secondary schools in the Ward in which his coffee cooperative is headquartered; more than 200 members of the cooperative live and work in the area.
He will come to the Twin Cities as a BFA volunteer to raise money for, and interest in, sending books to students in rural Tanzania. On Sept. 22 he will throw out the first pitch at the Minnesota Twins game at Target Field.
Robinson will also meet with officials at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, a major sponsor for Books For Africa, and attend a fundraising reception at the Minneapolis home of former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Sam Kaplan and his wife Sylvia.
He will participate in a Children's Book Walk in St. Paul and attend BFA's Annual warehouse party during his visit as well.
Robinson will also be meeting with local coffee roasters and distributors. He is a founding member of a cooperative of 200 small-scale coffee farmers which sells coffee in the U.S. He and the cooperative have also been instrumental in building the Bara Village Multimedia Education, Training and Entertainment Center. It is an educational center for over 2,000 primary and secondary students and training center for farmers, women's groups and youth organizations.
Major League baseball has donated the film projector for the 150-seat theater in the center, where educational and entertainment films are shown for the benefit of both the student and adult communities.
Robinson visited Africa as a 19-year-old and developed a commitment towards the wealth and beauty of the continent. He returned 10 years after his trip and has lived there for more than 30 years.
Robinson said he is honored to visit the U.S. and Minnesota on behalf of Books For Africa.
"The mission of Books For Africa to provide educational material to students and communities in Africa is a critical development resource for building capacity in Africa and working relationships among the citizens of our global community," Robinson said. "As a member of a cooperative of family-owned coffee farms we are strengthened in our objectives of creating a direct international coffee economy by the receipt of books from BFA to enhance the knowledge and skills of our children who will each year be moving into the ranks of coop membership and leadership.
"Books represent the potential for education. With education we can establish the greater understanding and ability necessary to work together towards a world of sustainability and peace."
Patrick Plonski, executive director of Books For Africa, said he was "thrilled that David Robinson would come all the way to Minnesota to help support BFA and the children of Africa. I understand that it will take longer for him to go from the coffee co-op over back roads to the airport than it will take for the flight to the U.S. So we're grateful that he is making the effort."
Books For Africa is the largest shipper of text and library books to the African continent. It has shipped more than 36 million books to 49 countries since 1988.
For more information about David Robinson, see this video Spike Lee did for ESPN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76tdinojjao
For a detailed schedule: http://www.booksforafrica.org/success-stories/2106-september-events.html
A photo accompanying this release is available at:
