Elkmont High School students collect ‘Books for Babies’
Published 2:00 am Thursday, December 30, 2010
- Marissa Baker, right, a student at Elkmont High School, and Logan Moore, president of a student philanthropic club called TRAIL, look over the many baby books Baker recently collected.
Marissa Baker of Athens knelt beneath the family Christmas tree amid 127 baby books.
At a time of year when many think of one special child and of giving, it seems fitting the 19-year-old Elkmont High School senior will give the books to babies.
She held a book drive Dec. 8 through 20 called “Bakers Books for Babies,” and exceeded her goal of rounding up 100 of them. She is about to donate the books, which she collected from friends, family and members of a school philanthropic club called TRAIL, to Athens-Limestone Hospital and to the Family Resource Center in Athens. They will give the books to the families of newborns and families with babies.
“I just think that parents reading to their children is very important for the child’s development and for the connection it helps build between the child and the parent,” said Baker, who wants to become a pediatric nurse. “Really nice baby books are so expensive, so I can see how many parents may not be able to afford to buy them for their children.”
Among the pile of books at the foot of the Christmas tree are 10 Spanish language books; the rest are in English. Baker, a foster child who was adopted by Sonny and Beverly Henley of Athens, wanted books for everyone.
She said she could not have succeeded without the help of family, friends and TRAIL, a group active in various Athens and Limestone County high schools.
“I wrote a letter about the project I wanted to do, and presented it at a TRAIL meeting,” Baker said. “Logan Moore, president of the club, said the members talked it over and decided to help me with the drive.”
Donors brought all sorts of baby books, including touchable books, ABC books and board books.
“A lot of people contributed, so I don’t want to single anyone out,” she said.
Baker plans to hold another book drive, hopefully a larger one, in the spring, she said. After she graduates in May, she will head to the University of Alabama, where she has been accepted in the nursing program.
Though still a senior, Baker has already been preparing for college. She has completed classes at Calhoun Community College, and is taking a college course online through the University of Alabama.
When she leaves Athens for Tuscaloosa, she hopes to keep “Bakers Books for Babies” alive by bequeathing it to another student, she said.
