Books 2 Africa

BOOK DRIVE 2009

Realizing that there were even more schools and children in Africa that could benefit from receiving our donated books, I decided to do a third book
drive during 2009. Once again, I asked for the continued support of all the principals, teachers and students in the Bentonville area; and once again,
many schools agreed to participate in the book drive. I also received support from the public and from other schools in America.

This time, an astounding 11,500 books were donated! Thank you so much to everybody who contributed in any way to the book drive, whether it was
by donating books, donating boxes, spreading the word about the book drive, or by helping to count, label, pack, weigh and transporting the books.
Without the help and support of so many different people, this book drive could never have taken place.  


  • At APPLE GLEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, some of the students designed posters to announce the book drive which were used to encourage the
    other kids in the school to donate books to the kids in Africa. Everybody there got involved, and thousands of books were donated.



















  • At BENTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, the Interact Club got involved and placed collection boxes in all the English classrooms throughout the school
    and in the Band Room. Many teachers and students contributed to the book drive. Fellow Marching Band and Interact Club members helped me
    during the summer holidays to label and pack the books.
















  • At CENTRAL PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the teachers heard about the book drive and generously contributed many books.



  • At COOPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the teachers also contributed generously to the book drive.



  • At MARY MAE JONES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, a competition was held to see which class could donate the most books. The student who
    donated the most books was a Kindergarten student who donated 355 books. In the end, thousands of books were donated.
















  • At SPRING HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL, the Student Council once again encouraged the students to donate as many books as possible by having a
    contest to see which grade and class donated the most books. In the end, thousands of books were donated.

















  • At THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, a request was made to the students for donations and they responded enthusiastically and
    generously.



  • The BENTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE signed on for the book drive and asked their members to donate books to the
    book drive. Many books were generously donated.

















I was also fortunate enough to receive books for the 2009 Book Drive from kids and teachers in other cities.

  • The teachers of a Kindergarten class at the EVERGREEN PLAYSCHOOL in Memphis, Tennessee saw the website and decided to encourage
    their students to donate books to the children in Africa. They set a goal for the class, and the kids not only reached their goal, but nearly doubled
    it.










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  • At GARDNER MATH/SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY MAGNET SCHOOL in Hot Springs, Arkansas, many teachers generously donated to the book
    drive as well.


The books left Bentonville the middle of July 2009, and they were taken to the Rotary Books for the World warehouse in Houston. From there, they were
shipped as part of the Rotary Books for the World project to the Rotary Humanitarian Aid Center in Bedfordview, near Johannesburg, for distribution to
schools, colleges, and other organizations who have a need for books. The process they have in place to distribute the donated books has been proven
time and again.

They also ran the Bury Me In Books project in conjunction with the South African 5FM radio station, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and
PostNet. The goal of this ambitious project was to distribute three million books in Southern Africa during three years. Some of the books were
forwarded to other countries in Africa such as Zambia and Zimbabwe, where the need for books is even bigger than in South Africa. The dedication of
Rotary Club members to distribute millions of books to people in need is truly inspiring. I am proud to be an official "Rotary Books for the World"
Booklegger.

During the first book drive nearly 1,100 books were donated; during the second book drive, 9,400 books. The third book drive generated
11,500 books - who knew what the future might hold…
Right: The teachers placed all the books in the foyer
to show all the students what they have accomplished!
Right: Debbie and Tony Potochnik were kind enough to deliver all the
books collected by the Benton County Democratic Central Committee