West County Readers,

In the spirit of community and organization, I just wanted to share with you some photos and details of the summer book drive that took place at Jenny K and Well Grounded Coffee and Tea Bar (6925 Stockton Ave, El Cerrito) two weeks ago.

We were very privileged to be joined by various members of the community and their families, children and parents alike, who all came out to indulge in hot dogs and drinks provided by the incredibly generous Jen Komaromi and Kevin O'Niel. While we were there, we were able to thank both Jen and Kevin for their role in generating more books for the organization to distribute, and their customers for providing us with the books in the first place.

Joining us on behalf of West County Reads were Pat Player, Kevin Hufferd, Robin Wilson, Summer Brenner, Jessica Gill, and we had a special appearance by Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia. It was a grand old time where we discovered that to that date, Jen and Kevin had collected 2010 books for us to distribute, and we were able to meet more members of the community and tell them about West County Reads. All in all, it was a great and fun evening, and the hot dogs were pretty darn good!

Clearly, these guys are expert book donors.

Standing around and enjoying hot dogs...mmm!

West County Reads presents Jen and Kevin with a giant card in thanks for all they've done!

Introduction!

Hi out there in blog land -

Just wanted to introduce myself as you'll be hearing from me (mostly) over the next year or so. My name's Jess and I'm an AmeriCorps Vista working with West County Reads to help get the organization in a place to work towards longevity. I moved from NYC to the East Bay specifically to help out with West County Reads and am super excited about the job. I love reading and I want to instill that love in others, and I think WCR has the means to achieve that goal.

One quirky fact you might not know: I like vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. Though lately, I've gotten into cake batter. Feel free to drop by the Bay Area Community Resources office in Richmond, California and bring me some - or books. Or money for the organization. All of the above will gladly be accepted.

Cheers!