By Ayana Thompson, Book Harvest Administrative Assistant and SMART Girls Leader
Over hyper girls, red colored smiles, heart shaped cookies, and of course great books were all in one place, in the wonderful world of Book Harvest.
In an endeavor to teach the group SMART Girls, an organization hosted through the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, about the “attitude of gratitude”, these young ladies donated an hour of their time to help sort boxes of books, that will later be dispersed back into their surrounding community. As each girl sorted with excitement, they constantly sang the praise of having experienced receiving books from Book Harvest themselves, at either their schools or surrounding regions.
“I want this book!” “No, I want this book!” “Can we just have ALL the books Ms. Yana?”
Eventually, the over excitement of sorting became a battle of ground of who got what as they stuffed their cloth bags with books of their alternative. As time winded down, each young lady felt it was necessary to read at least one of their favorite books chosen. Sitting in the cozy lounge area, each girl got a turn reading a selection of their choice and putting their own twist of excitement on that story. Then before you cognize it, it was time for the group to pack up and go; sighs of disappointment filled the air. “Ms. Yana, can we volunteer every Wednesday?”
It was such a pleasure having SMART Girls, donate their time to the Book Harvest office. These ladies were able to discover the gift of giving and also take away the importance of pouring back into their community. I can guarantee, this is merely the start of SMART Girls journey to success.