By Pack 603 Scouts
Cub Scout Pack 603 from Riverview started off this school year helping teachers and other children in their community by hosting a book drive at Boyette Springs and Stowers Elementary Schools. The cub scouts collected thousands of gently-used books from the students and faculty at both schools in support of Literacy Week. Every student who brought in a book donation received a raffle ticket for the chance to win prizes that were donated by local businesses and if they brought in five or more books, they received a free ice cream cone from Chick-fil-A.
The book drive was a huge success. The cub scouts collected 3,336 books in two days. Once the book drive ended, the scouts sorted and divided up all the books. The teachers were given the first opportunity to go through the books and take what they needed for their classrooms. Amanda Wink, a 5th grade teacher at Stowers, commented, “It was a great community service project as well as a great opportunity for me to clean out book shelves and pick up some great titles appropriate for my grade level.” The principal of Stowers Elementary, Catherine Lennard, commented that the book drive was a great gift for many of the teachers because they spend their own money every year to build their classroom libraries.
The book drive was so successful that the cub scouts were able to donate books to seven local charities in addition to the teachers. The charities included The Spring, Everyday Blessings, A Kids Charity, Alpha House, Head Start, Portomento of Hope and Dee’s House of Comfort. This event was much more than just a service project for many of the scouts, it was a true learning experience. The scouts were involved in all the aspects of the book drive including the planning, advertising, set-up, collection and distribution of the books. The scouts even had the opportunity to visit the Osprey Observer to work with a copy writer on how to write an article about their event. Jack Thomas, a Webelos scout, said “The most exciting part of the book drive was getting to go on the Morning Show and to see how many people actually brought in books”. Kyle Jordan said, “It made me feel good to know all our hard work was going to help so many kids”. The cub scouts took great pride in all that they were able to accomplish in such a short period of time.
The cub scouts from Pack 603 would like to thank everyone who participated in the book drive for their support. They also would like to thank the schools and all of the sponsors for donating the raffle prizes. Sponsors included Chick-fil-A, Jets Pizza, Pizza Hut, The Alley, Chili’s, Ace Golf, Art Monkey, Outback and The Osprey Observer. For more information, contact Sharrod McCree at smc cree@boyscouting.com.
