Turning the Page – Freshman StuCo Book Drive

The Freshman Student council board has been tasked with running the first ever Shawnee Mission East Book Drive.

Starting today April 15 and running for two weeks, students will have the chance to bring in any used or forgotten books to their first hour. These books will be collected on April 29 and sent to the Johnson County Christmas Bureau.

The Christmas Bureau is a non-profit foundation that helps alleviate some holiday-time stress for underprivileged families by providing basics like clothing and household items as well as gifts.

Books are something that East has not featured in a drive for a long time, so they are hoping it will turn out well these next two weeks according to Freshman StuCo president Sydney Beck. To prepare for the drive, they have been designing and creating neon“Book Drive” posters that will deck the halls of East.

–“During a meeting, we were throwing around ideas for the drive, and we decided on books,”  Beck said. “We think it is a good gift to give even though not many people would have it think [of it].”

This drive is a little different compared to others, such as the peanut butter drive and coat drive, because of its motivation. Instead of having a class with the most items receive a prize or party, the initiative is that people will want to bring in the books, just for the good of the cause.

“Sometimes things should just be done for charity, and not for a prize,” freshman StuCo sponsor Laure Losey said. “It’s good to see the goodness in people.”

Since this is their first drive they have conducted, they are excited to see how many books are brought in. Even though there are no prizes, the board is hoping to see results of 300 to 500 books.

“Since we are freshmen, we do not have much of a scope for drives,” Beck said. “But we are very excited to see how things go.”

Infographic by Campbell Wood