August 15th, 2011
Lions Club gives $500 to book drive

Texas State Director of Center for P-16 Initiatives Michelle Hamilton, left, and San Marcos Blue Bonnet Lions Club President Albert Green, right. COURTESY PHOTO.

STAFF REPORT

The San Marcos Lions Club donated $500 to a local book drive at their July 22 meeting.

Michelle Hamilton, director of Texas State University’s Center for P-16 Initiatives, accepted the check from San Marcos Blue Bonnet Lions Club President Albert Green on behalf of the group sponsoring the Early Readers Become Leaders Book Drive.

The group behind the book drive includes Seeking Opportunities, Achieving Results (SOAR); Half-Price Books; the Lions Club; McCoy’s Building Supply; San Marcos CISD; San Marcos Academy; Air Evac Lifeteam; Craig Seekamp Law Office; Gary Job Corps; the P-16 Alliance; and others. SOAR is a collaboration including Texas State University, San Marcos CISD, the San Marcos Education Foundation, the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The generous donation from the Lions Club is appreciated by SOAR,” said Hamilton, who is one of the founding members of SOAR. “We are especially grateful because these funds will allow us to purchase books in Spanish for many of our young readers.”

The book drive seeks to provide books for poor families. This year, drive organizers aim to collect 14,000 books from the community, businesses, and non-profit organizations.

“The very beginnings of workforce development start with the ability to read, (so) any time we can help our future workforce get a head start, we’re helping build our community,” said San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce President Brian Bondy.

More information about the Early Readers Become Leaders Book Drive is here.