Holiday Books Bring Joy

This past holiday season, West County Reads was fortunate, once again, to be able to provide books to the wonderful array of programs associated with the West County Emergency Service Provider Network. We were introduced to this network which serves some of the least privileged families in West County by Kate Rauch with Supervisor John Gioia’s office two years ago. Spearheaded by West County Reads Board Member Robin Wilson, this year’s holiday book giveaway was particularly successful. We distributed over 2,000 books to 19 different organizations. A list of the programs is provided below this article.

West County Reads collected the books through a variety of sources. In addition to books we purchased with grant funds we received from the Cloud Nine Foundation and books collected through Barnes and Noble holiday book drives, other sources included Tricycle Press (10 cartons), Uniforms Direct, Inc (Dictionaries & Thesauruses), Glenda Roberts (preschool books). Thanks to the generosity of these organizations and individuals, hundreds of West County children will experience the joy of receiving a new storybook for the holidays. Thanks Robin Wilson for coordinating this great program!

Organization/Individual	Number of Books
Opportunity West	405
CCC Emergency Service Providers	245
Tabernacle of Praise	217
Family Worship Center	170
Family Service Center	160
Hope for Homeless	134
San Pablo Emergency Food Pantry	127
Rubicon Programs	87
Main Street Restoration Committee	85
Ujima West	66
Girls Inc.	65
GRIP Homeless Shelter & Souper Kitchen	65
Seventh Day Adventist Community Services	50
Neighborhood Senior Center	48
West County Alliance for Literacy	48
Elks Lodge – Oakland	34
Delta Kappa Gamma Birthday Book Club @ Grant Elementary	24
Read Aloud Volunteer Program	24
Carmen Ruiz	8
Total	2062