BOOK DONATIONS -- NEW AND GENTLY USED
Starting in late summer 2020 and ongoing into 2021, NOVA RIF volunteers have been giving out books to children at fall school supply pick-ups and at various food distribution sites in Alexandria, and in Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William counties. If you have new or GENTLY used children's books -- from pre-K to young adult (YA) -- please let us know via our email: rifnova@gmail.com.
We will pick them up, bag them by age group for health protection, and deliver them to deserving children/families who are hungry for books to read! It's one of the many ways NOVA RIF is pivoting during the pandemic to provide books to RIF kids. So far, we have collected over 3,000 previously loved books to share with children in the Northern Virginia RIF community! Thank you!
We will pick them up, bag them by age group for health protection, and deliver them to deserving children/families who are hungry for books to read! It's one of the many ways NOVA RIF is pivoting during the pandemic to provide books to RIF kids. So far, we have collected over 3,000 previously loved books to share with children in the Northern Virginia RIF community! Thank you!
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Fifth grader McKenzie Watt plans on being an author when she grows up. When she learned that some children do not have books in their homes, she set up an organization, Kenzie’s Kids, to collect new and gently used children’s books to distribute to children in the local community, using list serves, porch pick-ups, Facebook, and her charity’s website to advertise for children's book donations. With a recent donation of 250 books to RIF of NOVA, followed by two more collections of at least 200 more, McKenzie will have given over 2,000 books to local charities serving children this year! McKenzie voted in our campaign, Votes for Women. See her vote for a woman who inspires her by clicking here. Thank you, McKenzie! You are pretty inspirational yourself!
Addie Clift and sister Marley-Grace collecting gently used books for NOVA RIF
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West Potomac High School sophomore Addie Clift undertook a Thanksgiving gently used book drive for RIF of NOVA. To get the word out, she posted her appeal on social media, wrote an article for her high school weekly newspaper, and reached out to her younger sister and young cousins to get the word to elementary school families in her community. She soon found that if you ask, people will donate! She was able to collect 1,600 books from all of her contacts. Amazing! This is not Addie’s first contribution to RIF of NOVA. In 2019, she and several friends set up a GoFundMe appeal for NOVA RIF, and she donned the Clifford costume for our Book It for Books 5-K Race, to the delight of the children who attended the event.
Addie comes by her love of books naturally. Her grandmother, Liz Promen, has been on the RIF of NOVA board for many years and was a public library librarian. Her grandfather and great grandparents were librarians, too...so Addie has a good dose of library genes! |
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Clay Waller, a senior at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School, gathered up some of his favorite Christmas books to donate to RIF of NOVA kids, donning a Santa hat to get into the spirit! (What a good sport!) Clay's early favorites, aside from these holiday stories, included the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Magic Treehouse series and, in the middle grades, the popular Rick Riordan adventure books.
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The Vesey White family has been doing holiday book drives for children for 18 years. Despite the pandemic, they continued this special holiday tradition in 2020. This time, four-year-old Danny was happy to help his family with the drive, and he was proud to assist with his family’s third annual donation of books to RIF of NOVA children. One of Danny's favorite books is I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen -- so he donated a new copy of the book to NOVA RIF, hoping another child will love the story, too! |
Tharren Clark, a graduate of New York University and a child of two educators, grew up with books. He tries to bring that experience to others with an annual donation of new books he purchases throughout the year. He has given to California RIF in the past, when he lived in Los Angeles, helping the Afro-Latino community. This is his second collection for NOVA RIF. His first collection was donated to young readers at Kenmore Middle School and Carlin Springs Elementary School, both in Arlington. Thank you, Tharren! You rock!
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Meghan Wang utilized an opportunity to host an Usborne Book Party to collect books for NOVA RIF. Since her own children, fifteen-month old Margot and three-year old Julian, love the many books they have in their house, Meghan decided to use the hostess credits to purchase books for RIF of NOVA children so that they, too, could have access to books in their homes. Meghan invited guests to bring a book to the event or purchase one at the party to donate to NOVA RIF. Margot and brother Julian were enthusiastic about all of the books going to find homes with local children. Their best recommendation for good reading? A fire truck board book. Well, of course! |
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Four year-old Rosemary Gratien was a little helper to her mom, Kathy Ellen Davis, as they gathered up some gently used books to donate to RIF of NOVA. Peeking out in this photo, Rosemary loves books -- which is no surprise since her mom is a children's book author. Her book, Ta-Da! tells about a day in the lives of two imaginative children. In 2018, Kirkus Reviews said about the book, "The only thing better about this full day of play is having one in real life." Check out Kathy's website here!
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RIF of NOVA Advisory board member Ruby Osia contributed gently used books.
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Beverly Kinzer gave over 150 books. She chose RIF of NOVA because she wanted to be sure the books her children enjoyed found their way into other young hands to be read and enjoyed again!
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RIF of NOVA supporter Frances Wu found several boxes of books to give to the cause!
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RIF of NOVA board member Bradley Vineyard and son Ben collected several bags of books to donate to children in the RIF of NOVA community. Many of these books were shared with kids at Mount Eagle Elementary.
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Morgan Starnes is a senior at Flint Hill School in Oakton. She donated books to NOVA RIF that she had enjoyed as a young adult. Morgan is a writer, graphic designer, and filmmaker, so she has always loved stories. Growing up with books and movies has shaped who she is today. As she explains, “I'm so excited to send these books into new loving arms!"
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Thank you to all who have given gently used books. In addition to those pictured on this page, several other individuals and families are on the NOVA RIF gently-used-book-donor honor roll, as noted below:
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