Two students in Notre Dame’s upper division are wrapping up the current phase of a special drive to ensure that children at a Metro Detroit-area hospital have access to books while undergoing treatment.
Sophomores Elizabeth Krencicki and Kayla Donaldson devised “Books for the Brave,” which involves collecting donated funds from classmates and families to purchase new age-appropriate books for pediatric patients at CS Mott Children’s Hospital, part of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. The drive, which is coordinated with the hospital’s own “Giving Library” program, has been wildly successful according to the two ambitious 10th graders, who said they plan to continue the program through the summer.
“So far we have had a monetary drive with all of (religion teacher) Ms. Pittel’s classes,” Krencicki said. “From this drive alone, we received about $300 from the students for which we are very grateful! We also have reached out to our old school, Holy Family, which held a jeans day for us. Plus, along with the jeans day, the Holy Family students helped us decorate special book marks that also will be distributed throughout the hospital. We also plan on working with local businesses during the summer phase of the program to find other ways to collect money.”
According to Sarah Whorf Mellifont, BSN, RN, who is the coordinator for program at CS Mott, the purpose of The Giving Library is to share the joy of reading by providing age-appropriate books to hospitalized children.
“Reading with patients and their siblings is a daily activity at Mott,” Whorf Mellifont said. “Encouraging literacy and independent reading is one of our goals. Each evening, volunteers gather at our little patients’ bedsides, read to them and then give a new book to each child as a gift.”
Krencicki and Donaldson created this flyer to help promote their “Books for the Brave” drive.
The program has been in operation since March of 2001. “There have been thousands of books given to patients and their siblings since then,” said Whorf Mellifont, who was very grateful for Notre Dame’s involvement in the program.
“Thank you for working on The Giving Library as a project,” she said in a letter addressed to Krencicki and Donaldson. “Your thoughtfulness will have immeasurable results in touching the lives of families throughout Michigan, out of state, and even out of the country. Through the generosity of these types of donations, we are able to provide the children at Mott Hospital with the opportunity to briefly escape reality through the magic of reading. Some children leave Mott with their own library of books!”
Krencicki and Donaldson said that anyone willing to help out should contact them at elizabethkrencicki@ndpma.org or kayladonaldson@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.