On Tuesday, August 20 the Glen Ellyn Public Library presented the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry with a $1,913.50 donation, the result of the library’s successful Read to Feed Summer Reading program.
Library Board President John Mulherin, Library Director Dawn Bussey and Glen Ellyn Police Department Chief and Rotary President Phillip Norton presented the check to Susan Papierski, the Executive Director of the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
“The Glen Ellyn Public Library’s Summer Reading donation is amazing,” says Papierski. “The summer months are historically a slower time for pantry donations, both food and monetary, and we continue to experience a great demand for appointments during the summer months. We truly appreciate the support of the Glen Ellyn Public Library and the Rotary Club!”
Find out what's happening in Glen Ellynwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The monies for the food pantry funds were acquired through donations from the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn, Meatheads, Ten Thousand Villages, Jimmy Johns, JS Fort Group and library members who donated spare change inside food pantry collection cans stationed around the library. No tax dollars were used for the donation.
In May, the Glen Ellyn Public Library challenged Glen Ellyn community adults to read 3,500 books and children to read 70,000 hours during the summer of 2013. While contemplating the lofty reading goals, Tween Librarian Ridgeway Burns detected an opportunity to raise funds for The Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
Find out what's happening in Glen Ellynwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I had always been inspired by the eagerness of the library’s middle school volunteers to help,” Burns says. “I thought library members of all ages might be motivated to help others in the community too. Working with the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry seemed like a great way to support our community and provide our members with an opportunity to give back.”
Upon learning about the library’s Summer Reading challenge, the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn offered to make a donation that would provide enough funding to feed 500 local people. Soon afterward several Glen Ellyn businesses including Jimmy Johns, Ten Thousand Villages, Meatheads and JS Fort Group all expressed interest in supporting the library’s campaign.
The Glen Ellyn community also responded to the Summer Reading challenge by shattering previous Summer Reading enrollment and reading records.
Adult Department participation more than doubled from 320 registrants in 2012, to 674 participants in 2013. Adults read 3,991 books in 2013 (compared to 1,786 books in 2012). Over 200 adult community members read at least 5 books this summer, including Glen Ellyn Resident Norma Burgeson who read a staggering 67 books between May 16 and August 12. In the Youth Department, 2,359 kids read 72,465 hours (up from 60,125 in 2012).
“The members of the Glen Ellyn community continue to amaze me with their generosity,” says library spokesperson Anthony McGinn. “Not only did they demonstrate a determination to achieve the library’s challenging reading goals, but the number of participating adults more than doubled from previous years! That kind of commitment is astounding.”
The community’s success in achieving the Glen Ellyn Public Library’s Summer Reading goals will help feed over fifty local families through the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.
“I had always been inspired by the eagerness of the library’s middle school volunteers to help,” Burns says. “I thought library members of all ages might be motivated to help others in the community too. Working with the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry seemed like a great way to support our community and provide our members with an opportunity to give back.”
