My daughter, Charlotte, is in Ms. Dushek's 2nd grade class and was inspired by American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" episode to organize a book drive.  In particular, Charlotte was surprised by a short piece on the AI episode featuring Jennifer Garner, who said that some children in rural Appalachia have access to only 1 book for every 300 children.  This was a new concept for Charlotte and it took her a while to grasp what it meant.  As she put it, "I have so many books that I don't read anymore -- why not give them to another kid?"  She made some flyers and we delivered a few around the neighborhood and are posting them on the Kentlands Community Boards. 

We are collecting new and used children's books to donate to needy families and organizations!  Deliveries may be made to our home at 130 Lake Street in Kentlands.  We will have a bin on our covered front porch for donations.  Books must be in excellent condition and free of torn pages, marks or stains.  (Unfortunately, text books are not accepted.)  If you have any questions or want more information, please e-mail me at laurel.barnes@lw.com.

Donations will be delivered to Books for America (www.booksforamerica.org).  Books for America is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C. that is having a huge impact on thousands of people in the Nation's Capital and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.  The Books for America mission promotes literacy, life-long learning and understanding by distributing donated new and used books to organizations serving communities, individuals and children in need.

If anyone is aware of children or families in the Rachel Carson Community to whom some of our books may be donated, please let me know.  I suspect we will have a good number of books to share.