Today we headed to Kids Book Bank and helped sort hundreds of books into categories of beginner readers, short chapter, teen, and more. Hailey liked the idea and has a "free little library" by her house where people can leave a book and take a book, so it was cool for her and us to learn how this organization stemmed from that and to see how the books got sorted. Some of the books were brand new, like Laura came across a lot of Hardy Boys books that hadn't been cracked open. Other books were so old, like some Nancy Drew books from the 1960s. We also saw some books that had been donated from libraries, even from libraries like Carol Stream, IL! The people helping us talked to us about starting our own in Illinois. It brought a lot of us flashbacks to our childhoods when we came across books we used to read.
In the afternoon, we headed to Providence House where they temporarily provide a home to children whose families are in crisis. Liz and Hailey said they enjoyed learning about the organization and what they do for the families. We all agreed it was a really good, clean place. Some of us said if we had kids, we would feel comfortable leaving our kids in their care. The rooms were warm and had comforting colors. A lot of thought went into the organization and we could tell. We went to the basement and helped them sort through their donations and organize the space. One thing we kept in mind was imagining what it would be like to work there and need certain items more often than others, so we could put those in more accessible areas.
After a long, satisfying day of helping sort and organization through items with the two organizations, we headed back to the Cleveland Hostel. We played games with the other group there and made some delicious dinner. In reflection, Deon and Chris said it was a sweet day with so many positive, upbeat moments. Yesterday was a little heavier because we were at the homeless shelter and came face to face with how they live there, and we are grateful for that experience. Today was a little lighter. One last thought Chris had was that when you give a monetary donation to an organization, you don't know how it's being used, however when you donate your time there, you truly become invested in their work. Today, we saw boxes and boxes of books and had a hand in the work they are doing. It was very rewarding!
-Laura, Liz, Victoria, Naima, Mario, Chris, Hailey, Deon, Frankie