By Phoebe Craft
It’s National Volunteer Appreciation Month and this week we are highlighting the efforts and strengths of Book Harvest’s volunteers. Our volunteers are amazing. They’re also selfless, kind, adventurous, strong, loyal, dedicated, compassionate, caring, empathetic, and friendly. Book Harvest volunteers have given a lot to the communities that they serve. They fill our Book Hubs, run book drives, and have helped to process over 2 million books since our founding in 2011! Book Harvest wouldn’t be the organization it is today without our volunteers. Thanks to them, an abundance of children in our community have experienced the love for literacy and book ownership.
My first day at Book Harvest as an AmeriCorps member, a volunteer group was being hosted. Though I didn’t know it at the time, they were stickering books as part of our book processing. It looked like fun and I felt like a fish out of water, so I did what anyone else would’ve done in my shoes: I joined them. Surrounding me was a community built up of parents, grandparents, teachers, neighbors, and students. A community that shared the gift to give. It was at that moment when I realized Book Harvest wasn’t just about the love and compassion and care we share for literacy, but about the love, compassion, and care we share for others.
It takes a generous heart to give only with the intention of allowing others to feel supported and secure. Every volunteer that has stepped through our doors has shown this and I look up to them for that. I enjoy the company of our volunteers and learning about them and hearing their stories. They’re easy to strike up a conversation with and are great active listeners. Book Harvest volunteers are a strong community of lovely people and I appreciate them for being them. They put the love in volunteer <3.