“We know from research that parents reading to young children has a huge impact on how quickly children learn words and learn to read,” Rotary President Tia Rae Stone said. “Taylor ISD is more than 60% Hispanic, and when we learned that the school needed more Spanishlanguage books so parents can read to their students, we knew we wanted to help.”
The club purchased and donated more than 45 books with a value of more than $750 to the THJ library where the children are in pre-kinder, kindergarten and first grade.
When making the donation, Taylor Rotarians shared snacks and read to about 30 first graders.
“This has been a big need for a while,” Principal Andy Basche told the Rotarians.
“This will help us fill a gap in our library.”
After the event, THJ Librarian Brenda McNulty told the Rotarians that when she showed a student nine of the books from Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series.
“She said that her mind was blown. Then she started jumping up and down saying that this was a ‘dream come true,’” McNulty said. About half the expense was paid for with a grant from Rotary District 5870. To show their appreciation, Taylor Rotarians included a copy of “Que Haces con un Idea” or “What Do You Do with an Idea,” written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Mae Besom, in honor of the District Governor Shannon Coleman and her love of the book.
The remaining expenses were paid for by funds raised by the club at its annual dinner and golf tournament that are both supported by the citizens of Taylor.
The Rotary Club of Taylor is committed to the idea of Service Above Self and works to support projects in Taylor and around the world.
Its regular projects include local scholarships, support of Midnight Basketball, packing bags at Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry on Wednesday afternoons and running routes for Meals On Wheels every third Thursday, and sending four local students to leadership camp each summer.
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-religious organization open to all.
