l-r: Roxie Montgomery, HIKE Program Director, Cathy Ham and Cindy Foreman, Phoenix Family Program Coordinators
l-r: Allison Titus, Public Relations chairman, auxiliary; Karen Mollohan, Public Relations chairman; Ann Whittaker, President; Sherry Sweat, Education chairman
l-r: Roxie Montgomery, HIKE Program Coordinator; Karen Mollohan, Public Relations Chairman; Ann Whittaker, President
On October 24th, millions of volunteers across the nation were united with a common mission – to improve the lives of others. For 25 years, USA TODAY WEEKEND Magazine, in collaboration with Points of Light and the support of Newman’s Own, has sponsored Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service. Make A Difference Day is a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors, with millions of Americans uniting in a common mission to improve the lives of others. It is a “Local Event With National Impact”.
Assistance League’s participation on a national level began in 2012 with an idea of an Assistance League member, Linda Killmer, Past National President and member of the Phoenix chapter. She commented that every year, when the USA Weekend Magazine reported on the activities of many charities on Make A Difference Day, it made her want to see Assistance League spotlighted in this group. The question was, what could the organization do, nationwide, to create numbers that would catch the attention of the national press. A local community book drive for children became the answer.
The Assistance League of Kansas City kicked off the 2015 Make A Difference Day Book Drive at their September 10 chapter meeting. The recipient of the book drive would be the HIKE (Help Instill the Key to Education) Reading Enrichment Lab, a program of the Phoenix Family Foundation, supported by the Trent Green Foundation. which serves numerous communities in the Kansas City area. The 60+ children served in the Parvin Estates community live in households with an average income of just over $7,000 per year and more than 85% are classified as a minority. (Statistics provided by Phoenix Family Foundation)
The Public Relations Committee joined with the Assisteens® auxiliary to begin collecting books. Donation boxes were located at the Administrative Center and The ReSALE SHOP for chapter and auxiliary members. The Assisteens collected books at their schools, places of worship and from friends, family and teachers. One generous teen even purchased $18 of new books!
Last year 181 books were collected and this year’s goal was to collect 500 books. The members rose to the challenge and the books began pouring in. When Roxie Montgomery, Program Coordinator from the HIKE program came to speak at the October 14 chapter meeting, the count was already 675+ with the Assisteens contributing over 250 books. The Heartland Book Bank of Kansas City generously donated 320 books. And still the books kept coming. The final count would be over 1500 books, games and educational supplies.
On November 4, Ann Whittaker, President; Karen Mollohan, Public Relations chairman; Allison Titus, Public Relations, auxiliary; and Sherry Sweat, Education Chairman delivered the multitude of boxes to their new owners. Roxie Montgomery, Cathy Ham and Cindy Foreman from the HIKE Reading Lab were on hand to receive the books. The number of books received, was so large that they will be able to distribute books to each of their six local facilities as well as to their Columbia and St. Louis locations. When asked how the books will benefit their program, Ms. Montgomery answered, “Well over 150 youth will benefit from the book donation. And those books will continue to trickle into the homes of the youth, the conference rooms of the Property Managers and the shelves of our Senior Sites so they can read to their visiting grandchildren! So again, thank you for your generous donation.”
It was truly an example of how Assistance League of Kansas City strives to fulfill their vision statement: Together…making our community better.
