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St. Lawrence County donors credited with contributions to assemblywoman's book drive

Posted 12/26/17

CANTON -- Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne, D-Theresa, says residents of St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties came through in a big way to make sure children have books to read this holiday season. She …

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St. Lawrence County donors credited with contributions to assemblywoman's book drive

Posted

CANTON -- Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne, D-Theresa, says residents of St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties came through in a big way to make sure children have books to read this holiday season.

She said the thousands of books collected in this year's Addie's Books for Children Drive was yet another reflection of the willingness of North Country residents to step up and help people in need.

She noted the donations from Kinney Drugs customers were very strong again this year, and the 1,080 books from Brody will truly make Christmas morning that much more special for many families.

The assemblywoman noted she was pleased to have an opportunity to express her gratitude to Brody, who led the effort at Madrid-Waddington with the assistance of his fellow Webelos.

Brody said his effort to help collect books for the drive will help him earn a Recycling Badge, one of the Cub Scouts’ Building Better Communities activities.

Norma Cary, executive director of the St. Lawrence Community Development Program (CDP), said the books collected Monday will be distributed through the Head Start and neighborhood center programs around the county.

"We certainly understand the importance of reading. This will provide an opportunity for kids to have books to read and parents to have books to read to their children," she said.

"There still remains a lot of need. We have a lot of families in tough situations, families where parents are under employed. Our working poor are struggling to pay their bills and often don't have the money for Christmas gifts or books," Cary said.

Jenne said CDP staff sort the books and push the books out so they are distributed in an age-appropriate manner.

"We had so many great partners helping us this year. Kinney Drugs has worked with us for the past several years. Our drive definitely benefitted from the hard work of Cub Scout Pack 38 Webelos Brody Baldwin and Connor Laforce and the staff and students at Madrid-Waddington who added over 1,000 books this year. Our St. Lawrence County effort was aided by a collection box at the Canton Free Library and a donation from the St. Lawrence NYSARC program. We are also grateful for the donation from the Carthage Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Jefferson County," Jenne said in a news release.