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It has been my privilege for the past several months to be part of a group of local citizens that is addressing the problem of illiteracy in our community. This group is called the Conway Bookcase Project Committee and we have directed our efforts to building quality oak bookcases and collecting "gently used" children's books for children in economically disadvantaged families. We are developing plans to interact with these children and read to them on a regular basis.
On Nov. 13, at the Cornerstone Bible Church in Conway, we celebrated a milestone as we presented the first 50 bookcases and a starter set of books to the children and their parents. The event was covered by members of the media, including the Log Cabin Democrat, Conway Corp.'s Channel 81 and Little Rock television stations KTHV and KARK.
For these, as well as future bookcases, the generous people of Conway have contributed over 6,000 children's books and we will begin the second phase soon so more children can begin a lifetime journey of reading. Our theme is "Reading opens a window to the world." So many people have helped us and we want to simply say "thank you" for making our project a success. We don't want to overlook anyone because it's been a team effort.
If you constructed bookcases, sorted and classified books, contributed books, gave money or purchased copies of Jim Davidson's book "Learning, Earning & Giving Back" to purchase building materials or passed along words of encouragement, we are grateful to you. The young children in our community are the real winners.
We want to specifically thank the following businesses, churches and other organizations who served as collection points for the "gently used" children's books: Log Cabin Democrat, Conway Corp., Lifeword Broadcast Ministries, Cornerstone Bible Church, First United Methodist Church, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, Fellowship Bible Church, First State Bank, Smith Ford, Regions Bank, Chick-fil-A, Second Baptist Church, United Way of Faulkner County, Conway Noon Lions Club, National Bank of Arkansas, Conway Morning and Noon Optimists Clubs, Grace United Methodist Church, Senior Citizen Center, Conway Chapter of AARP, Simmons First National Bank, Central Baptist College, First Security Bank and Conway Kiwanis Club.
A tremendous thank you goes to Cornerstone Bible Church for accommodating us with the use of its fellowship hall for building the bookcases, storing and sorting the books and for holding our first awards ceremony. Several other businesses and individuals made special contributions to make the bookcases complete. Architect Ken Ingram drew the bookcase plans, David Bailey and Bailey Painting Co. stained and varnished the bookcases, Lynnette Collums gave a Bible Story Book to each child, David Passalaqua and Wal-Mart gave a set of bookends, Nabholz Construction Corp. purchased a dictionary for each child, Ramona Aragon presented beautiful personalized bookmarks and Alan Kizer of Chick-fil-A presented copies of Truett Cathy's book, "It's Easier to Build Boys Than to Mend Men."
The Conway Bookcase Project Committee plans to continue building quality oak bookcases for deserving children. We are excited about making the awards ceremony an annual event and will be inviting the public to attend. We need and welcome your help in the future.
Members of the Conway Bookcase Project Committee: co-chairs Jim Davidson and Police Chief Randall Aragon, Ramona Aragon, Mary Boyd, Mickey Cox, Phyliss Fry, Jerry Glover, Bill Hegeman, Ken Ingram, Amanda Moore, Scot Morrissey, Larry Pillow, Nina Russ, Jan Spann and Mayor Tab Townsell.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Bill Hegeman is a retired CEO of Conway Corp.)
What is your favorite book? If you can answer this question without much difficulty, you are among the most blessed people on Earth. This means that you can read, at least at some level, which is not the case for many millions of people in our country. Illiteracy is not only robbing the individual who cannot read the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential, but is also costing our nation billions of dollars each year.