A holiday season campaign to put books in the hands of Sarnia-Lambton children and teens has issued its annual request for donations.
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Literacy Lambton’s Give-a-Book campaign is accepting new, unwrapped books at its office in the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Center at 180 College Ave. N., at Coles Bookstore in Lambton Mall and The Book Keeper in Northgate Plaza, which is offering a 20 per cent discount on books bought there and donated to the campaign, which runs until Dec. 11.
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Tracy Pound, executive director of the agency offering literacy programs for adults and families, said the campaign is taking cash donations online at literacylambton.org/donate.
Give-a-Book began about three decades ago with the aim of providing books to children of local families in need at Christmas, Pound said.
“The campaign is for babies, all the way to age 18,” she said. “Last year, we set the goal at 3,500 books, which was crazy, and we exceeded that goal.”
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A total of 3,787 new books went to families through 34 local agencies after the 2022 drive, Pound said.
“What we’re trying to do is give every child in our community the joy of unwrapping a new book at Christmas,” she said.
Literacy Lambton works with community groups providing Christmas hampers across Lambton, and “front-line agencies. . . that work with kids in our community,” including Pathways Health Center for Children and the Children’s Aid Society, Pound said.
One example is a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to provide a “starter library” for children in families moving into Habitat-built homes, she said.
Partner agencies pass along the number and ages of children and teenagers they serving each holiday season and Literacy for Lambton provides suitable books.
“Sometimes we just get inundated with requests for teens. . . (or) requests for babies,” which makes cash donations helpful because they can be used to buy books to match local needs, Pound said.
The campaign is supported by individuals, local book and service clubs, including the Rotary Club of Sarnia Bluewaterland which funded the purchase of a pallet of new books this year, she said.
“That has helped us get going in a very big way,” Pound said.
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