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Book and School Supply Drive

In the past, the Community Outreach Committee has collected toys at the annual Holiday Party to donate to the Marine's "Toys for Tots" program. This year, however, instead of collecting toys, we asked that members bring new, unwrapped books that can be donated to various shelters and homes on Long Island--specifically, children's books, young adult books, or coloring books and crayons. We're happy to announce that at our 2006 FA/Guild Retiree and Holiday Party, our FA members proved generous as always! Below is Community Outreach Co-Chair Dan Linker's review of the Fall 2006 Holiday Book Drive.

The first words I have to write about the Community Outreach’s Holiday Book Drive can only be Thank You. Thank you so much. The generosity I witnessed last December at the Holiday Party was overwhelming. As most of you know, this past year instead of collecting for the Toys for Tots program, we shifted our focus to match both the Community Outreach Committee’s affordable housing mission, as well as something more in the nature of what the college community in general represents, namely books and school supplies.

Your response was overwhelming. As I transported carton after carton of children’s books, young adult texts, crayons, coloring books, etc., through the lobby of the hotel, I realized just how giving our members are. All of the texts were new and many were obviously quite expensive. As people dropped their donations into the decorated cartons, many told us how they had brought a text that they had always loved, or had meant much to them or their children. Cynthia Villanti, Christina Beard-Moose, and Mohini Ratna helped collect, separate, and organize the texts that evening, and we loaded up a minivan with seven large cartons of colorful and shiny titles.

Early the next week Maria Kranidis and I went off to deliver them. First we drove to Bay Shore to deliver several cartons of books to a shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children. This shelter, a part of the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, provides a safe haven for many women who are either homeless or afraid to return to their homes. They often have few or no possessions for themselves or their children, and we could tell instantly how needed and appreciated your gifts were.

Several days later we were joined by Audrey DeLong who helped us deliver the remaining donations to the Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson. The Hope House is a not-for-profit, community-based ministry that has dedicated itself to providing comprehensive and competent residential and counseling assistance to adolescents. Again, the gifts were a great success. Not only will they be enjoyed by the current residents, but by so many in the years to come.

Again, thank you for making the Book Drive such a success with your very generous donations. Happy New Year to you all, and best of luck for this semester.