The ACTION!Week project team delivered Assistance League of Mid-Missouri an amazing success. The Marketing Communications committee elected to do a book drive to benefit eight (8) programs in our Operation Share philanthropy.
The drive, held the week of February 23-26, chaired by Linda Harding and Patty O’Neal under the leadership of VP Wanda McCampbell received 600+ books from Scholastic, Inc., another 499 new books thanks to donations from members and the community, plus monetary donations of $1,877 – used to purchase 196 books from Barnes and Nobles (many thanks for the generous discount!). Additional money is also available to fill needs in the coming year.
The final sorting and distribution of books came through 108 volunteer hours and great dedication of the team. We were overwhelmed with the support, dedication and generosity of members, patrons and Scholastic, Inc.
We have delivered approximately 1,200 books that were donated or purchased through our ACTION! Week book drive. These books went out to children at First Chance for Children, Great Circle, True North, Catholic Charities of Central and Northeast Missouri, Coyote Hill, City of Refuge, the CRIBS program at Douglass High School, and the day care center at Battle High School. Scholastic Books donated over 700 books to our project, and Barnes and Noble allowed us a 30% discount for purchasing books. The books were targeted for children from birth to age 10, and many of the purchased books were bilingual editions in several languages. For many of the children, these were the first books they had ever owned. In the second picture are Patty O’Neal, co-chair of the ACTION! Week committee, delivering books to Gay Litteken, director of First Chance for Children. Pictured in the cover shot is Carla McFarland delivering books to Catholic Charities. Thank you, Columbia, for supporting our book drive to promote literacy.
