Written by Denise Gary
Photographs © Denise Gary
The holidays have come and gone, but the spirit of giving they engendered at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Chandler, Arizona is still burning brightly for Kids Need to Read and the children we support. The retailer conducted a mighty Holiday Book Drive that was nothing short of amazing, no doubt due to their crew’s commitment to childhood literacy and a highly supportive community. The bookstore, located at Chandler Fashion Mall, presented KNTR with an incredible 2,334 new books valued at $13,000! It takes true dedication and lots of hard work to produce such stupendous results through a local drive.
I enjoyed making the final contribution of the book drive, purposefully waiting until the store was closing on New Year’s Eve. I symbolically selected Lisa McMann’s novel, Gone, as my affectionate sayounara to the end of 2010, a year that was immensely productive for Kids Need to Read. I also purchased Jane Breskin Zalben’s Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World to welcome in the New Year with hope.
We could not be more grateful for the wonderful collection of books we received. We will use them throughout 2011 as program incentives and to increase our gifts to the organizations and children we serve. Please stop by and give the hard working folks at Barnes & Noble Chandler a smile and a thank you for assisting us in providing literacy opportunities among children in need. Their generous holiday gift provided Kids Need to Read with an inspirational beginning to 2011!
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. – Mother Teresa
(Thank you for the smiles, Sibley and Missy!)
Denise Gary, Melissa Tope, PJ Haarsma, Sibley Giles, and Debbie Brown
