April was a very busy month at Book Buddies. Our terrific volunteers contributed more than 300 hours of sorting, counting, and boxing donated books. They were so efficient and on-task that they regularly emptied a huge container of books in a two-hour session. This is a tremendous amount of work, but our volunteers were up to the challenge.

Among groups volunteering at Book Buddies headquarters in April were:

• Reagan High School Chapter of the National Honor Society

• University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 

• USAA Marketing Department Personnel

• National Junior Honor Society of Basis Shavano (plus their parents)

• KIPP San Antonio Students

• Valero Vanguard

• UTSA Voices

• Sam Houston High School Seniors

• Toyota

Besides these groups, many individuals and family groups showed up to lend a hand — many of them regularly on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings. Thank you, every single dedicated volunteer!  

Want to join this brigade? Just email us at bookbuddies@saylonline.wpengine.com , or sign up at http://signup.com/go/ZKpgTgc.     

Not to be outdone by the volunteers at Book Buddies Headquarters, many of our friends were running book drives, adding to the number of children who will be able to pick out books to keep at our May events. April’s book drives included:

• Mc Andrew Elementary School, Boerne 

• Al Koppen, Boerne Library

• Alamo Heights High School

• Pearson

• San Antonio Nerd Night

• University Health System Nurses

• Midge Breslof

Thanks to all of you who ran book drives and to everyone donating books! And don’t forget — it’s never too late to run a book drive. If you can’t do it for the May Book Celebrations, run a drive this summer or fall. We start collecting books for the following year right after the Celebrations are over. There is no off-season for Book Buddies.

Our May Book Celebrations are just around the corner. This year we will be serving at least twenty elementary schools in the SAISD — more than 10,000 children. Every single child will be able to select five books to take home to start a home library. We have already reached our goal of 60,000 books, and we’re still boxing more! This has been a very successful year — and with your help next year will be even better.

Jane Welch, Book Buddies Coordinator