After the devastating floods that took place this July, the Children’s Center Reading Room lost over half of their books and had to go under intense renovations.

In an effort to give the program some relief, Lily Petz ’24 put together a book drive to create a new collection of books for their library.

“After becoming a full-time volunteer at the Children’s Center, I learned during the presentation that the easy-to-reach books for kids were destroyed,” Petz said. “I alone have a lot of books that I would want to donate, and I knew getting more people involved could help a lot.”

The Children’s Center helps kids and preteens facing behavioral and emotional challenges, developmental disabilities, trauma, abuse of all kinds and neglect, as well as those needing foster care and adoption services. Especially after the pandemic and flooding, the center has been struggling to build back up. Help from people like Petz gives the program relief and the opportunity to help more kids in need.

“The program is always looking for volunteers and gives students an opportunity to help out their community,” Petz said.

The center is accepting any children’s and preteen books that students may have laying around their house. It doesn’t matter if the books are brand new or used; the center is happy to get any donations. Any households willing to donate are greatly appreciated.

“Due to me and my sister both being in high school now, we have a lot of childhood books laying around like other people I know,” Maeve Hix ’24 said. “I’m glad we can take something we wouldn’t typically use and give it to people in need.”

For those looking to donate, South has bins in the main hallway, and the Student Activities office is also accepting donations. The Children’s Center will be accepting donations through the month of March. Any questions or concerns can be answered by the informational sheet above with Petz’s contact information
“I’m hoping people are interested in donating and we are able to help kids in need,” Petz said.