Washington County Schools Help New Jersey Shore Schools Restock
Libraries
Hillsboro, Ore.,
January 22, 2013—Hurricane Sandy.
It seems so long ago what with the intervening holidays and school and mall
shootings and life in general. But it happened just in late October 2012 and
three months later clean up continues.
Damage to homes and the shore boardwalk have been reported
on even on this side of the country, but missing from the reports has been the
damage to school libraries. Books and water don’t really mix, and New Jersey shore schools
need to restock their shelves. Enter LaRonda Famodu, a Hillsboro resident and independent
educational consultant with Usborne Books & More.
“A New Jersey Usborne consultant named Mary Beth Spitz came
up with the idea to host a series of literacy events to generate free books for
the affected schools,” says Famodu. “I am just happy to follow her lead and
help in this small way.”
The small way: Flyers will be sent home with students at
five Hillsboro
elementary schools asking parents to purchase a book or two or three for their
own children from a special Web link. Based on sales from that link, Usborne
Books & More will match book sales 100% with an equal amount of free books
for the Jersey schools in need. This book-raiser is being conducted in
partnership with the nonprofit Reading Council of Southern New Jersey.
“I have been active in the PTA and active in the community
through my business. So when I decided to help with this book-raiser, I
immediately thought of my PTA friends at schools in the district,” says Famodu,
who has three children of her own. “I approached my PTA contacts at Jackson,
Imlay, Quatama, Brookwood, and Mooberry. Everyone was excited to help. And now
that we have approval from the district, the flyers will be making their way
home. Jacobsen’s Books on Main
Street even put flyers out for me!”
The book-raiser runs until Wednesday, January 30, 2013, and
has already generated $365 just through Facebook shares. “I have a local friend
who’s originally from
New Jersey
who’s thanked me for doing this. I have friends who already have tons of
Usborne books who have participated because it’s for a good cause,” Famodu
says. “I am so grateful to represent a generous company and great children’s
books. That 100% match really made me think, if the company can do that then I
can e-mail a few friends. I’d love to see that sales number climb to at least
$500, but I am sure we can do much better than that.”
If you’d like to participate in the book-raiser, the Web
link is
https://L2548.myubam.com/13970. Monetary donations can be made to the reading
council at
www.rcsnj.webs.com or checks
may be mailed, payable to RCSNJ, to RCSNJ,
PO Box 69, Mt. Ephraim, NJ 08059.
