Always on the lookout for new and unique ways to serve their community, the faculty, staff, and students of Ross Medical Education Center in Cincinnati, Ohio recently hosted a book drive in support of the organization Adopt a Book. Adopt a Book is a non-profit organization started locally by 14 year-old twins, Hannah and Alexander. This was just the kind of organization that Ross loves to partner with to make a difference to their neighbors and those in need.
Hannah and Alexander, the two book-loving twins that started Adopt a Book in November of 2011, began their mission when they were just 8 years old. They were inspired to take action after they heard about kids in the Greater Cincinnati area who didn’t own books of their own. Their young minds couldn’t fathom a world where access to all that books have to offer wasn’t readily available. They vowed to make a difference and give every child in their area the opportunity to read, learn, imagine, and fall in love with literature the way that both of them had.
To encourage involvement during their campus book drive, anyone who brought in gently used children’s and young adult books were given a raffle ticket. The ticket allowed a campus wide dress down day. A representative from Adopt a Book came to the Ross Cincinnati campus to pick up the donated books. She expressed thanks and appreciation for the donations and explained there were many organizations requesting books and not enough donations to fill them. The books were given to the YWCA Greater Cincinnati Hamilton County Educational Services Center to be used by their preschool population. Ross Cincinnati looks forward to developing their relationship with Adopt a Book Ohio and hosting additional book drives in the near future.
Many of the children that receive their books have never been to a library, don’t have access to a library, and/or have ever owned a book of their own. The books donated to Adopt a Book become part of a long-term, sustainable effort aimed at providing children with quality and advancing levels of books. All of the books donated to this organization are then delivered directly into the hands of schools and organizations who serve at-risk children. These children are then invited to take books home and able to enjoy them forever. To date, Hannah and Alexander’s initiative has collected 126,800 books and made 405 deliveries to over 100 organizations. The goal of the organization is to deliver 2,000,000 books!