On the evening of December 8th, the New York City chapter of our fellow publishing the WNBA came together with members of Young to Publishing Group at the AAP offices to wrap books to be donated to homeless families in upstate New York. A team of twenty, including nine WNBA-NYC members, went through ten rolls of wrapping paper as they happily spread some holiday cheer. Eight boxes of books donated from publishers such as Scholastic, Macmillan, Sterling Publishing, Brightly, and Penguin Young Readers, along with donations from the volunteers, were bundled, wrapped, and boxed for delivery.
The books will be donated to Family Promise of the Capital Region, a non-profit organization that works with existing social service agencies and faith communities to provide shelter, food and case management services to assist homeless families in securing employment, permanent housing and lasting independence. Mary Giordano, Executive Director of Family Promise of the Capital Region is delighted to accept the books on behalf of her organization. “I’m very excited and thrilled our families and our program is receiving this incredible donation. Our guest parents are encouraged to read to their children and this will surely encourage it. I truly appreciate this!”
Many of the donated books were bilingual or Spanish titles, as a majority of those served are not native English speakers. Maureen Sikule, a member of Family Promise that attended the event and helped transport the books, detailed her experiences. “One family we recently helped was from the Dominican Republic where Spanish is the native language.” Various organizations in the area serve as hosts for a week at a time, giving families an evening meal, a place to sleep, and breakfast in the morning. During the day they are transported back to the center to receive services. “It is very rewarding to help the families gain lasting independence,” Maureen told the volunteers. “We are all so grateful for your generosity.”
WNBA-NYC and YPG members were happy to have the opportunity to give back to the community this holiday season.
