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Community Corner

Overwhelmingly Successful Book Drive Nets 800 Books for Needy New Haven Students

Collaborative effort between Girl Scout Troop # 62104 and Madison School for Young Children contributes to the quality of life for Hill Central Music Academy students

There is a special relationship building between Madison Girl Scout Troop #62104,  Madison School for Young Children and Hill Central Music Academy in New Haven. 

It all started with a gift drive at Christmas time when Girl Scout Leader and Director of Madison School for Young Children Ann Beccia was contacted by Hill Central Music Academy to try and make the holiday a bit brighter for the school’s kindergarten through second graders. 

“For most of them this would be their only gift for Christmas,” Beccia said.  With help from the community, the Madison School for Young Children and the Girl Scouts collected over 300 gifts, in one week.

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This was when she realized that a collaborative effort between the almost 100 families at her school, along with her Girl Scout Troop, could contribute to the quality of life for the Hill Central Music Academy students.

As an educator and mother a book drive was a natural second project.  This was embraced because as the principal noted, “Many of the children don’t own books and don’t have books at home,” said Beccia.

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“So the idea was to collect enough books for all the children to be able to take home one book,” said Beccia.

The group set out to collect new and gently used books for the 240 plus needy New Haven students, ever mindful that the books collected needed to be in good, readable shape.  They were not going to pass on any books that they would not want to have as their own. 

“We don’t want to pass on a book that looks like it’s been used.  We want to be very respectful of the fact that this is a gift to somebody,” Beccia said she reminded the group,

As with the Christmas gift project, the book drive was an overwhelming success. With over 800 books collected it meant that not only the children at the school were given a book to call their own, “they could take one home to siblings, friends, and relatives.  So we had boxes of books for them to just take!” said Beccia.

“All the kids were really happy when they saw the books,” said Isabel Kelly, an Island Avenue 4th grader and member of the Girl Scout Troop.

Kelly said the children were very excited to learn that they were going to be able to take a book home for their very own.  “They couldn’t believe it.  They asked if they were really going to take them home because they thought we were kidding,” she recalled.

While the troop personally delivered all the books they took time to read a story to a classroom.

“I read to two classes,” says Island Avenue School 4th grader and Girl Scout Maggie Major. She read the book Koala Lou, by Mem Fox and Pamela Lofts, to second graders.

 Although she has read to students at Island Avenue she was a bit overwhelmed reading to children she didn’t know.  “The first class was a little bit scary but in the second class I was OK with it.”  

“They liked it; they thought it was really cool and really interesting,” said Major.  “They thought it was really nice that we brought them books, “she added.

Kelly, who read We’re Going on A Picnic!, by Pat Hutchins, to a kindergarten class, reflected on the book drive after they returned home from New Haven.

“I thought it was really nice because we have a lot of books and they don’t have any books,” she said.  “So I thought it was really nice for them to get books,” said Kelly.

Looking back on the experience Kelly said, “It made me really happy because I knew that I had helped.”

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