More books needed for Dec. 3 Holiday Light Parade
PRESQUE ISLE — Hundreds of children’s books have come in since students and employees at Northern Maine Community College and the Aroostook County Action Program turned to the community earlier this fall for assistance in collecting books to give away along the route at the annual Star City Holiday Light Parade Dec. 3. However, according to project organizers, more are needed to ensure all children along the parade route receive a book during one of the most anticipated events of the holiday season.
This is the second year NMCC has partnered with ACAP on the project and taken the effort countywide, using ACAP sites in northern, central and southern Aroostook. The call for books put out last month resulted in many individuals, community members, NMCC students and ACAP students and families, bringing in new and used children’s books to the college and ACAP sites. In addition, several county organizations, including Box of Books and First Book of Aroostook, have contributed boxes of books.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community College
VOLUNTEERS WITH NMCC and the Aroostook County Action Program sort through boxes of donated books delivered to the campus and ACAP sites throughout Aroostook County. The books will be sorted by age group and prepared for distribution during the annual Holiday Light Parade in Presque Isle Dec. 3. Among the several volunteers working on the project are, from left: Natalie St. Pierre and Jessica Ouellette of NMCC, Pat Good of ACAP and Krissy Williams of NMCC.
The initiative evolved both as an idea to give away something that had a connection to the nature of the college and what it offers the community, as well as providing area children with something from which they would benefit. Acting in the capacity of Santa’s literary elves, the NMCC and ACAP volunteers plan to hand out hundreds of books to kids of all ages enjoying the Dec. 3 parade.
“We really want to have at least 4,000 books on hand in time for the parade. The more children we can provide with a book, the better,” said Colleen Harmon, a business technology instructor at NMCC who launched the book collection project eight years ago. “Everyone should be able to read and everyone should be able to have books without worrying about it taking away from paying for fuel to heat the home or food for the table. With the current state of the economy, this is especially true. Sharing a book is like sharing an adventure, and we want to make certain all children have the opportunity to enjoy an adventure.”
Individuals or organizations with new or used children’s books to donate toward the project may drop off books to the information window in the main lobby of the Christie building at the college, 33 Edgemont Drive, Presque Isle; ACAP Main Office, 771 Main St., Presque Isle; ACAP Park Street Center, 44 Park St., Presque Isle; ACAP Employment & Training, 91 Military St., Houlton; ACAP Fort Kent Child Care Center, 40 Alfalfa Avenue; or ACAP Caribou Child Care Center, Bowles Road, Caribou.
The book collection effort will continue through Dec. 1. For more information or to arrange for a pick-up of a larger quantity of books, contact the NMCC development and college relations office at 768-2809.
