"Our students love to read and want to share that experience, too.”
During the annual Scholastic Book Fair at Aurora Quest K-8, students in each homeroom class compete in a coin collecting contest. Students empty their pockets and race to raise money to donate to select places in need of new books. This year, Aurora Quest’s student body raised $1,000 in coins that was donated to the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries’ 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative. The funds will help rebuild school library collections that were damaged or destroyed during the many disasters that plagued the U.S. last fall.
“The consensus this year was that the hurricanes had affected schools in the South to a serious extent, so we looked for a way to get books to those schools,” said Mary Beth Macleay, Aurora Quest’s librarian. “We certainly hope our contribution [to the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative] will directly get books into the hands of students. Our students love to read and want to share that experience, too.”
In response to a shattering season of storms and wildfires, The Laura Bush Foundation established the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative to help rebuild school libraries that were damaged or destroyed in recent natural disasters in Texas, Florida, California, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. In addition to directing approximately $1 million of its resources to the 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative, the Laura Bush Foundation continues to fundraise for the school library rebuilding efforts. The first round of 2017 Disaster Relief Initiative grants were announced in January and distributed more than $850,000 to 17 schools affected during Hurricane Harvey. For information on how to help school libraries recover, please visit www.laurabushfoundation.org.
