Union volunteers handed out more than 40,000 books to area school districts and nonprofits serving children in east Multnomah County. The book giveaway was staged at Centennial Middle School on Saturday, Nov. 22. The event was spearheaded by Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) Centennial Chapter 113 President Vicki Nelson, in partnership with First Book, a national nonprofit dedicated to putting books into the hands of children. Nelson and more than 100 OSEA members in east Multnomah County talked to peers, called classified employees in nearby school districts, and contacted social service agencies to tell them about the program. Their efforts paid off, as they registered 2,000 people to take books to children.
On the evening before the distribution, more than 300 volunteers gathered at the middle school to sort the books by age group. Books are for children as young as preschoolers and as old as 18. Many of the volunteers were OSEA members and staff. But members of other unions, teachers, students, school administrators and school board members also pitched in. Keith Kordenat, apprenticeship coordinator for the Iron Workers Local 29 Apprenticeship Training Program, brought a forklift to unload pallets of books from a tractor-trailer in the parking lot.
Besides the books going to school children, OSEA Chapter 113 donated hundreds of books to the Centennial School District’s Teen Parent Program and Closet to Closet, a district program that provides clothing to needy families; to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Presents from Partners, SnowCap Community Charities, and St. Timothy’s Church.
