The nominations are in for the 12 Days of Charitable Giving 2010. Our final of twelve charities to be featured this year is Sheltering Books, a nonprofit organization that collects women and children’s books and donates them to homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and residential treatment centers that house children.
The organization began in 2007 when Mackenzie Bearup, of Alpharetta, Georgia, began collecting women and children’s books to donate to homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and residental treatment centers that house children. As of September 2010, Mackenzie has delivered over 47,000 books to the various shelters.
A recent study predicts that 1 in 50 children in the US will be homeless at some point. Many of them will end up in a shelter often with just the clothes on their backs.
I am fortunate in that I always had a warm place to lay my head at night as a kid, no matter how tight money might have otherwise been. And when I would sit in my room and wonder what my life would be like when I grew up, I was never discouraged. I had books. They opened worlds of possibilities to me. With a book – and my imagination – I could be on Prince Edward Island with Anne of Green Gables or in a carriage headed out west with Laura Ingalls Wilder. I could solve mysteries with Nancy Drew and heal animals with James Herriot. There was nothing that I couldn’t do with a book in hand.
Kids need books, just as much as they need food and shelter. Books offer hope. They open worlds to kids that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
You can make a donation directly on her website or send a note to find out how you can help.
And just in case you need a bit more inspiration… Mackenzie, who started this charity, is just sixteen years old. At an age when most kids are worried about prom dresses and driver’s licenses, she’s packing up boxes to send to those less fortunate than herself. We can all learn a thing or two from her.
I love reading, i have been an avid reader since i learned to READ! Reading offers escape , when there is no other way out (or seems to be). I now read the bible, and am learning to understand the stories within it much better than i ever did before. Things begin to fall in to place with knowledge , but the principles applied biblically really help one spiritually.
Keep up the good work. What a wonderful mind set for a teenager, when so many others are following the “famous” and the loose morals of society, when someone this age comes through with compassion for others, she is a shining light in an otherwise worldy dark place.
Yu guys typed these comments 11 years ago! your 11 years older
Books are treasures to hold, to trace one’s fantasy, to answer the questions of life, like how do they make pencils? Kelly was an avid readers, as her daughters are.
With my daughter’s permission, I can relate to being a homeless and hopeless child / person, not once but twice in my young life. The first was on Christmas Eve 1958. No Christmas that year. The second time at age 14, I left home for good for my own personal safety. Both times, taking more than clothes was not an option. The second time, I had been receiving National Geographic magazine from my maternal great-grandmother. This was back in the time when someone had to recommend a person for membership. I took my NG’s I had received since 1962, all 30 of them. They were important to me as a link to family that did care for me, but they were my library. I too, enjoyed reading, mostly history or reference books from school and later public library. Today my NG collection is still intact, and all issues since, the start of my 1000+ hardback library.
Children need books! All children, regardless of age, from infancy to adulthood, books open worlds to young minds.
The Ask Amy column, by Amy Dickerson, in the local newspaper devoted her whole daily column the week before Christmas to promoting of a wrapped book gift for every child for Christmas.
Reading is important. Children do not come programmed to read, or even like books. They need nurture and a book to claim the mind and imagination they have been given. Sometimes, only the book is available.
Do your part to provide a child the opportunity to read and offer them opportunity to use their imagination. Search your own ‘library’ or collection of books to share with others, particularly children. We have a obligation to pass along the written word to others, and encourage them to learn from it, and pass what was gained onto others.
Wayne
For those of you who haven’t figured it out, my father is an extraordinary person. There wouldn’t be a taxgirl without him – his work ethic, his spirit and his love for his family are inspiring. Thanks Dad, I love you.
Do we need a holiday to promote reading and giving of gifts and books in particular, introduce people to the library (if they don’t have an address , to obtain a library card with , then read in the library) . I read a lot of periodicals (newspapers and magazines) as well as blogs. I LOVE to read! I love to research, using the dictionary for words i may comprehend, but still don’t fully understand. Reading promotes a desire to know more and more.
Wayne i will never know what you endured, but thank you for sharing yours story. I had parents that worked , and raised 5 children and we always had a roof over our heads, and food on the table. I like Nat Geos too! You can travel the world through them, from the comfort of your home. I am also familiar with Ask Amy….when you grow up sheltered, sometimes it is hard to fathom that other people do not always have the same sheltered life you have been blessed with, but we all need to develope compassion, and the bible tells us that there would be days when people would become lovers of themselves instead of lovers of what is right….you see it all around you in our society (all about me). I hope to teach my grand daughter that everyone deserves a break and encourage her to have the same compassion for those of lesser means, as well as for the animals and this wonderful planet we live on.
and read, read , read!
Awww, as we say i our home (husband, daughter , grand daughter (GROUP HUG) ((( ))) .