BELLOWS FALLS — Because it takes more than food to nourish kids' minds, the Children's Literacy Foundation has donated several cartons of books to Our Place Drop-in Center to be given to children when they visit the food shelf with their parents.
CLiF's donation of 250 books to Our Place is part of a new project this year to provide brand new children's books free to food shelves in Vermont and New Hampshire, according to Joanne Heidkamp, special projects coordinator for CLiF.
“We've had a great response from the kids,” said Our Place Director Susan Shea. “Their eyes really light up when we let them choose books to take home when they come in for a food shelf or for our monthly Family Friday events.”
Recent evidence of their enthusiasm occurred when Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Dunne stopped in to do a service project and wound up on the floor reading to a couple of young sisters.
Based in Hanover, N.H., CLiF was founded by Duncan McDougall, who continues as executive director. It visits some 200 communities in New Hampshire and Vermont every year, operates 16 programs, and has served more than 16,000 children. Among its partners are the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger and the Vermont Foodbank.
Our Place is a daytime shelter and food shelf located at 4 Island St., whose mission is to connect people to food and each other. It serves families in Rockingham and the surrounding area and Walpole and North Walpole in New Hampshire.