To the editor:

In October 2022, we hosted a book drive, collecting new books to benefit the members of the Boys and Girls Club of East Providence. Thanks to the incredible generosity of family, friends, community members and donors, we were able to collect over 500 books! The books ranged in reading level and interest level to ensure that there was a wide variety of books for children in grades K-8. During the week of December 12, 2022, Heather Frampton, Director of Education and our partner at the Boys and Girls Club, organized a Book Fair with books collected from the drive. The children were able to “shop” (at no cost to them) for as many books as they wanted. It was truly heartwarming to see them filling their arms with piles of books that they were so excited to read. Jahnile Medonca, 3rd grader at the club, said it perfectly when she exclaimed “I love books. This is like Heaven!”

We used a wishlist at bookshop.org to ensure that we were able to collect new, high interest, age appropriate books. In addition to making shopping easy, using the wishlist had additional benefits. Bookshop.org believes in helping to keep brick and mortar, independent bookshops alive and well. Thus, 30% of the proceeds from purchases made through our wishlist directly supported The Book Nerd in Barrington, our favorite independent book store and continuous supporter of our book drive efforts. You may not have realized it at the time, but your donations did double duty!

Friends, family members, anonymous donors, community members, THANK YOU for reaching into your wallets to give the gift of reading to the children at the Boys and Girls Club of East Providence! This effort is not possible without your generosity. A very special thanks to The Roofing Doctor (Swansea, Barrington) who has been a very generous donor and supporter of this effort, without hesitation, since 2021. Sergei Miroshnichenko is simply one of the kindest, most generous humans we have known. We are forever grateful to you Sergei! A big thanks also goes out to a second very generous donor who contributed in a big way this year, Matthew Faucher! The collective efforts of all made this year’s drive a wild success!

To quote Dr. Suess, “You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.” We can all use a little more magic these days, but your generosity has ensured that our young friends at the club can hold that magic in their hands!  The bookshop.org wishlist was anonymous, so we will never know who all of you generous souls are. Because we cannot thank you personally, we hope this message reaches you and that you know just how much we appreciate your contributions!

Happy Holidays!

Tabitha Watjen and Bruce Zarembka

— Watjen is an SEL Facilitator for the East Providence School Department. Zarembka is a retired Transitions Program Support Staff for the East Providence School Department.