 |
Bedsidebooks
"A room without books is like a body without a soul" - Cicero What is Bedsidebooks? It is a program of student volunteers who collect, sort and deliver recycled books to needy members of the community. It was established in 2003 (see history). We are now involved with delivering books to: * Nursing homes * Members of the military * Shelters for battered women and the homeless * Public schools in need of classroom libraries What will we do for you? * We will help you create a list of non profit nursing homes or other organizations that you can give books to.
* We will obtain for you and send you a Presidential Certificate when you've completed your project.
* We will provide you with sample press releases to help you get the message out about your book drive.
* We will we will help you with ideas for collecting books.
* We will help you resolve problems that arise along the way. What do we want from you? Please register before you start collecting:
* Your name, address (include the zip code), school and grade. When you identify recipients for your books, the names of those groups.
When you finish:
* Two copies of a letter acknowledging you (or your group) for a donation of books to a non profit group in cooperation with the Bedsidebooks Program (note: acknowledgment letters must be on official stationery of the recipient organization). How are books collected? In households across America there are unwanted books that people have finished reading, but they can't bring themselves to throw them away or they have simply forgotten about them. Many people will be happy to give you their spare books, especially since the books will be put to good use. Read the section called book drive to find out how to run one in your community. See the checklist to find out how to run a program in your community. Is this program open to anyone? No, this program is open to high schools students participating by themselves or in a group and younger students participating in an organized group (such as a school group, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or 4-H). We have accepted others to help with the program, but they are not eligible for a Presidential Certificate. How much time is involved? A modest size program can probably be managed by devoting 1 to 2 hours per week over the course of a month or two. But it depends on how many nonprofit organizations you choose to serve. Why should I get involved? Not only is this project fun and easy, but it offers you an opportunity to provide a useful service to members of your community who are less fortunate than yourself. You are also helping yourself by making an positive impact on the environment. Finally, if you are interested in exploring a career in health care we encourage you to let the people at the nursing home know and they may be willing to give you a tour of the nursing home or tell you more about the role of the health care professionals in their organization. Those of you who have an interest in environmental science have the opportunity to have a hands on experience helping to reduce the waste in our landfills by recycling books (it takes one tree to make 300 books - how many trees can you save?). If the above reasons don't convince you, maybe we can sweeten the pie by telling you that past participants in this program have received a certificate from the President of the United States acknowledging their participation in the environmental aspect of this program. We will work to help future participants receive one too. Is there a deadline? The deadline is May 15, 2012. How do I find out more information? See the Checklist
When you're ready to start or for more information contact us at bedsidebooks@gmail.com Thanks to Gamestop for helping us to become a non profit corporation
 |