As an intern in the Community Outreach Department at Kinston Community Health Center, I am thrilled to share an update on the “Battle of the Books Book Drive” that we have been organizing to support learning and promote literacy among children within our community. With the help of Kinston Community Health Center and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, we have collected over 600 new and gently used books for elementary school-aged children between the ages of five and nine.
We are grateful for the contributions from various organizations, including Lenoir Community College NC Works Career Center, Greene Lamp, Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Green Counties, Neuse Public Library, Kinston High School Media Center, M & D gifts and many others. Our efforts have resulted in a collection of over 1,600 books that will be donated to the AKA Sorority and residents in our community.
To kick off the book drive, Kinston Community Health Center collaborated with Grainger Stadium to organize a contest inviting different organizations to compete in collecting the highest number of books. The winning organization was rewarded with six complimentary box seats and the honor of throwing the first pitch at a previous game held on Sunday, April 7th. The AKA sorority emerged as the winner of this competition by garnering more than 800 books.
As a result of this remarkable achievement, a donation box labeled “give a book take a book” has been placed outside Kinston Community Health Center. This box was generously built and donated by East Carolina Boy Scouts Council who installed it in front of our center to ensure accessibility to patients and residents in our community.
We want to thank everyone who has participated so far in this noble cause. We kindly ask residents and organizations to continue contributing towards this effort by donating books. For more information on book donations, please contact Anna Kinsey at [anna.kinsey@kinstonchc
