Posted by Larry Faulhaber

THE LAKEWOOD RIVER SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB BOOKS FOR KIDS PROJECT IS A BIG SUCCESS WITH OVER 3,500 BOOKS DONATED TO THE BOOK BANK.

 
The Citizens of Rocky River and visitors to the Umerley Hall Books for Kids Donation Bin have generously supported this Lakewood Rocky River Sunrise Rotary Project.  The photo above shows just one of the twice a month pick up of books from the Bin.  Club members, Patty Boesken, Carol Barrett and Club President, Eric Jolly are shown unloading the Bin for delivery to the Book Bank in Ohio City.  The Book Bank reports that over 3,500 books have been collected from the Bin since its installation by Civic Center staff in August 2019. 
 
The Books for Kids project is a national program that was established in 1986. It is founded on the belief all children have a right to books and deserve dedicated spaces where they can read.  The project is designed to expand access to books in the places where children learn, live, and play, and to empower adults to read alongside them in order to develop lifelong literacy skills during the most critical years of their development.
 
The Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank mission is to foster literacy and a love of reading by distributing free books to children in need through collaboration with community organizations.  The Kids’ Book Bank opened in February 2016 to receive, manage, and distribute truckloads of books every month. About 30% of their books come from the community. The rest come from online used booksellers.
 
The Rocky River Kids’ Book Bank outdoor collection bin, just one of several around the Cleveland, provides a place where community members can deposit new and gently-used children’s books that they are no longer using.  The Book Bank distributes the donated books through over 1,000 partner organizations who work with children and parents to encourage them to read.
The Lakewood Rocky River Sunrise Rotary appreciates the continued support of Rocky River Mayor Pam Bobst, who arranged for the Bin installation and promoted book donations for this worthwhile project.  The staff at Rocky River Civic Center, Mike Balla and Bob Holub, selected a location and arranged for the installation of a pad for the Kids’ Book Bank collection bin.  It is located on the Memorial Hall side of the Don Umerley Civic Center, on the way to the Rec Center entrance.
 
The Sunrise Club is one of two Rotary Clubs in Lakewood and Rocky River.  One Club meets on Mondays at Noon and the other meets on Wednesdays at 7:30am.  Both currently meet on Zoom, but hope to soon resume meeting at the Umerley Hall of the Rocky River Civic Center located at Hilliard and West 210, behind Rocky River City Hall.  Both Clubs follow the motto of Rotary – Service Above Self.  The Books for Kids project, in partnership with the Kids’ Book Bank, is just one of Rotary’s many Community, Vocational, Youth and International projects.
 
You are invited join with the men and women of Rotary and add your time and talent. 
 
Contact Kathy Berkshire at sloopyohio19@gmail.com. For more information about the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, visit www.kidsbookbank.org and find them on social media.