Sean C. Morgan
The local chapter of the Oregon School Employees Association has reached its goal to qualify Sweet Home to receive 40,000 books from Book First.
Book First is a social organization dedicated to ending illiteracy by providing a steady supply of brand new high-quality books to low-income families. Since its formation in 1992 by attorney Kyle Zimmer, the organization has distributed 125 million books. The OSEA has pursued its goal in cooperation with the American Federation of Teachers.
The OSEA represents classified employees, who provide support services for the Sweet Home School District. As of Thursday, local OSEA members had collected 2,001 names and email addresses, surpassing their goal of 2,000. This is the third time the OSEA has completed this project in Oregon.
Since April, they have been collecting names, email addresses and signatures to meet that goal, said Sweet Home Chapter President Velma Canfield. She would like to collect a few more signatures to provide a cushion for potential errors.
If someone has not yet filled out the form, Canfield asks that he or she go to their local school and ask for the form. First Book, on occasion, sends special offers for inexpensive books to emails in the list.
Now that 2,000 signatures have been collected, First Book will ship a load of 40,000 books to local qualifying Title I low-income schools.
Before in-service week, just before school started, the OSEA had 1,880, Canfield said. Members collected 105 new forms during in-service, and Thursday, they added another 16 to the total to meet their goal.
“The secretary in the (OSEA) Salem office still has to input all of these for us,” Canfield said. “And then hopefully the truck will come at the end of October. At this point, we’ll be able to sit down as a union and figure out when to have the truck deliver the books.”
That’s when sorting will start, Canfield said. OSEA members invite the public to volunteer for the sorting by calling Canfield at (541) 367-7182.
Initially, Sweet Home OSEA members planned to join a five-way project with other districts, collecting 400 signatures to receive 8,000 books, but they soon decided it would be possible to collect 2,000 forms in Sweet Home and receive the full 40,000-book shipment.
They immediately began collecting names and email addresses.
“We’re there,” Canfield said. “What are we going to do with 40,000 books?”
They union still has to decide the precise details, she said, but the books will go to the local library, school libraries, classrooms and home with the children.
“It feels good to know we’ve gotten the 2,000,” Canfield said of the signature gathering effort. “It was a lot of hard work. I was a little worried for a while.”
She recalled sitting in front of Safeway during the Jamboree kickoff at the end of July with three other volunteers – Shea Sitton, Lisa Gourley and Jim Gourley, collecting 200 forms.
The Gourleys also hit up the lines outside the Jamboree before the concerts started to collect another 300 to 400 signatures.
“That’s just one other way the Jamboree has helped our entire community,” Canfield said. The forms collected during that event reflect some 12,000 to 14,000 books destined for Sweet Home children.
Assisting in this project were Sunshine Industries, Circle K, Linn Lanes in Lebanon, Hoy’s Hardware, The New Era, A&W, Little Promises and O&M Tire, said Lisa Gourley. Safeway allowed the OSEA to collect signatures, and the OSEA provided support and the opportunity to the Sweet Home community; and the Sweet Home Public Library and City Hall had forms available.
“Then the Chamber (of Commerce) invited us to table with them during the Jamboree,” Gourley said. “The Singing Christmas Tree Committee let us have a table during their Sportsman’s Holiday Bazaar.”
“These businesses deserve a big thank you for their community dedication and support,” Gourley said. “It’s an incredible accomplishment for our community to rise to the occasion and achieve this goal.”
“We’re going to be able to put books into the hands of kids to take home,” Canfield said. “Some of these kids wouldn’t be able to take (books) home. Thanks to the community for their help and support in collecting signatures.”