Books 2 Africa

BOOK DRIVE 2010

In 2010, I did a fourth book drive to collect books for schools in Southern Africa. I contacted principals and teachers at schools in the Bentonville area to
ask for their continued support. They not only gave it, but even encouraged more schools to get involved too. I also received donations from individuals
in Little Rock, Prairie Grove, and Fort Smith, as well as the Interact Club at Southside High School in Fort Smith and the Bentonville/Bella Vista
Daybreak Rotary Club in Bentonville. This time, a total of 10,900 books were donated!  

I would like to give a big thank you to everybody involved for donating all these wonderful books and for helping me to spread the word about the need
for books in Africa. Thanks also to the Bentonville High School students who helped me during the summer holidays to pack and label all the books, and
then to weigh all the boxes. Without all the help and support I received from so many people, none of these book drives would have taken place.



  • Felix Kimani from Little Rock, Arkansas was the first person to donate books to this year's book drive.















  • Life Ministries in Prairie Grove, Arkansas graciously decided to donate some of their books to the children of Africa.
















  • The Interact Club at SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL in Fort Smith, Arkansas heard about the need for books in Africa and was next to offer their
    help. Their whole club jumped in and collected thousands of books for the book drive. As a member of the Interact Club of Bentonville High
    School, it was a privilege to meet members of another Interact Club and to work together towards a common goal..















  • The Bentonville/Bella Vista Daybreak Rotary Club decided to support the book drive too and encouraged their club's members to donate
    books. Hundreds of books were donated.


















  • Steve Lovick from the Rotary Club in Fort Smith involved his church group and donated hundreds of books.















  • APPLE GLEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL supported the book drive again by donating many boxes of books to the book drive.


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





















  • At ELM TREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, many teachers and students generously contributed books to the book drive.


  • LINCOLN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL donated many boxes of books to the book drive.


  • At MARY MAE JONES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, a competition was held to encourage the students to donate books. Once again, the students
    responded with enthusiasm and many boxes of books were donated.


  • At R.E.BAKER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the librarian gave some books a new lease on life by donating them to the book drive in stead of
    sending them to a recycling center.  


  • At RUTH BARKER MIDDLE SCHOOL, an English teacher donated a lot of her own books, and her students and fellow teachers then followed
    suit.


  • SUGAR CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL donated many boxes of books to the book drive.


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


I took all the books donated to this year's book drive down to Houston in the middle of August. Once again, our books will form part of the Rotary Books
for the World project. They have the infrastructure in place to ensure that the books will reach South Africa and be distributed where they can do the
most good.

I also had the privilege of meeting Charlie & Barbara Clemmons, the founders of the Rotary Books for the World project. They told numerous stories of
the positive impact the books have made in Southern Africa and how so many lives are affected by access to teaching and reading materials.
















I toured the Exel warehouse where the books are stored before being shipped to South Africa. It was very impressive! The facility is enormous and the
pallets of books waiting to be shipped took up an entire wall. Three containers were already packed, fumigated, and ready to be shipped. Two more
containers were being prepared to be packed and the pallets that were going into them were already packed and wrapped. It was clear that the Rotary
Books for the World project is a well run operation and I am very proud that our books can form a part of it. I know it is only a matter of time before our
books will be shipped too.
Right: Mr. & Mrs. Clemmons founded an amazing project
whose profound effect can be felt throughout many parts
of the world