The Latta Rotary Club partnered with Latta Elementary School to provide books for 4K students.
In light of the pandemic, the annual Happy Feet shoe project had to be put on hold. So the Rotarians decided to offer a different type of project to support our students. With reading skills being such a core part of the curriculum it was decided to provide these new readers with books to help jumpstart their interest and aid them during the time they have to be home. The school media specialist assisted with preparing the order so that the books were leveled appropriately for the students and each student received a Rotary tote with eight to ten books to add to their home libraries.
Funding came from the Rotary District Simplified Grant initiative where the Rotary Foundation contributes grant funds back to clubs for local projects and the local clubs provide matching funds. Members of the Latta Rotary Club unboxed and placed all of the books in the totes ready for distribution to the students. Unfortunately, due to restrictions on visitors to the schools, the club members couldn’t participate in the giveaway but several club members that work at the schools were able to participate and represent Rotary. As always, our younger students provide entertainment during any interaction. So when asked if they had any questions, one student commented that she “had a dog”, another commented that he saw the real Santa and another said he didn’t like to read. So while they may not exactly understand what the project is about, we hope that we can foster a love of reading that can aid them in the future.
