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Rotary Club delivers 750 free books to kids

For the 17th year, the Rotary Club of Hay River Sunrise has given books to hundreds of students.

The annual initiative is called Books for Kids.

Michelle Schaub, centre, a member of the Rotary Club of Hay River Sunrise, helped with the club's Books for Kids initiative on June 14 by delivering books to Ecole Boreale. She also read one of the books to Bennett Millette, left, and Daxton Beck. Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

This year, about 750 books were distributed to children from June 14 to June 19.

Rotary member Michelle Schaub was among those bringing the books to students in up to Grade 8.

"We talk to the schools and the teachers," she said. "We find out how many kids are in their classes and then that's how many books they get. So that each kid gets one book."

Along with schools, the books also go to homeschoolers and children in Aboriginal Head Start and elsewhere.

"Our Rotary Club, we like to promote literacy and reading," noted Schaub.

She said Rotary members really enjoy distributing the books.

"All the kids are reading their books and wanting me to read it to them, and they want to read it to you," she said of her visit to Ecole Boreale with fellow Rotarian Tom Lakusta on June 14. "They're just all so excited and every year they seem to just really enjoy when we come to the schools. They get to see this big bag of books and they get to choose with their teacher what book they get to read for the summer. They all seem very excited and very happy. It was nice to see."

Schaub noted that Books for Kids is one of the longest-running initiatives of the Rotary Club of Hay River Sunrise, and it originated at the club itself.

A book is given to each student to take home to read during the summer months or to keep at school to read.

This year, the books went to Princess Alexandra School, Harry Camsell School, Ecole Boreale, Chief Sunrise Education Centre on the Hay River Reserve, Aboriginal Head Start on the Hay River Reserve, the Hay River Co-operative Play School, homeschoolers in Enterprise, Deninu School in Fort Resolution, Kakisa Lake School in Kakisa, and Deh Gah School in Fort Providence.

Schaub said the Rotary Club gave away approximately $4,000 worth of books this year.