Big Bend promotes reading at Boys and Girls Club

MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College ASB officers recently helped deliver more than 600 books to kids at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin. The delivery was the result of a partnership between the college and First Book.

The books were taken to the McGraw Family Clubhouse Wednesday, where each kid was able pick out their favorite book to take home. ASB officers also treated them to some Halloween candy.

Boys and Girls Club director of operations Michele Dano said getting a brand new book was a big deal for a lot of their kids.

“This is amazing,” she said. “Many of our kids don’t have books at home, so this is a great resource for them.”

Books will also be taken to the club’s six other locations at Lakeview, Longview, Larson Heights, Midway, North and Peninsula Elementary Schools in Moses Lake. Dano said they will be used in their after-school Reading Clubs, a program they recently started at each of their clubhouses.

“We started the Reading Clubs so kids have a quiet room to come and read in,” she said. “It’s important to us that they keep up with their school reading levels.”

This isn’t the first time the college has helped promote reading amongst grade-schoolers. Big Bend has also sponsored book donations at North and Larson Heights Elementary schools for the last two years.

“I think it’s important for kids to read,” said ASB President Cydney Schaapman to the Columbia Basin Herald. “A lot of these kids stay inside, especially when the weather starts getting gloomy. It keeps their minds full and their imaginations roaming.”

“I love it, love seeing the kids come up and grab books and just be able to interact with the kids,” ASB Programming Director Brynn Brown told the CBH. “To share with them why I love reading and why they should too.”